"I am certain that ever since the premiere, the show has gained harmony, a balance between impetus and rigor. The scenery as character by Nikola Toromanov, Chris Jaeger’s light, Andrada Chiriac’s costumes, Florin Fieroiu’s arabesque of movements, the musical cocktail (where Carl Orff meets Joe Cocker), chosen by Morfov and exposed by Lucian Maxim, cast an expressive bridge over time and spaces, amplifying the beatitude and the miracle.

In Ion Caramitru’s utterance, we feel „the charmed and heart-rending reverie of Shakespeare”. His presence animates, fills the enactment, at the end, with a sacred emotion. An actor with Shakespearean calling...

A successful tour, representative for NTB and the Romanian theatre. The exceptional triumph of „The Tempest” in Budapest reinforces the prestige of this show, which announces itself long-lasting. We highly recommend it!"

Ludmila Patlanjoglu, Cotidianul – Correpondence from Budapest – Storm of Applause for The Tempest

„A lively show, replete with talent, vigour, music, movement. (...) And as fast and joyful the pace, the deeper you get absorbed in thoughts. (...) Starting with Ion Caramitru – such a convincing Prospero (an actor with a fabulous oeuvre, immortalising in the audience’s memory, through his interpretation, great Shakespearean heroes), helping through a fascinating balance the actors on stage, in direct interaction with his character, to really shine, the show „The Tempest”, with vague nuances of quality entertainment, shall lead a long life. It is that which can enchant a wide audience nowadays!”    

Maria Sârbu, Jurnalul Naţional – On the Island of Magic, the Laws of Imagination Rule  

„Ion Caramitru, brilliant expert in interpreting some famous characters of Great Will, succeeds in presenting the only character of the cast recalling Shakespeare. This great actor has the skill to go beyond the appearance of word and even situations in order to cleverly refer to the substratum building the topic of the writing. As an image, he is an Einstein emerging from documentaries, but the actor keeps in mind Prospero’s mission. (...) Ion Caramitru succeeds in giving dramatic consistency to the character, to the meaning Shakespeare invented him for.

Mihai Călin as Caliban also excells, pivotal character of the comic endeavour. The actor expressively manipulates the double meanings of Caliban’s manifestations. (...). Mystery in manifestations, but also an inner chagrin aptly suggested is rendered by Istvan Teglaş to Ariel. The part is interpreted beyond reproach. (...) Once again, the encounter with Crina Semciuc as Miranda is a pleasant surprise. This young actress has the ability to employ her personal charisma in totally different parts, comic or dramatic. The revolt or sensibility dictated by situations is subtly tackled by the actress”.

Ileana Lucaciu, Spectator - ”Magic” with Lots of Theatrical Surprises  

„The director perfectly masters the ambiguity, as well as the transition from one level to another, from dream to parody, from romanticism to grotesque, from extravaganza to the mastery of stagecraft. (...) The actors exit from time to time the characters, without leaving the context. (…) creates the Show, theatre in its pure form, shiver, humour, magic, rhythm, frenzy, the force to transmit and to transfigure, temper. An impressive show, equally worth your applause: Nikola Toromanov (scenery), Andrada Chiriac (costumes), Chris Jaeger (light design) and Florin Fieroiu (choreography). (…) With his experience and talent, one cannot claim anymore that Ion Caramitru „has hit the jackpot”. But I can personally testify that we are talking about a certain kind of unique gift – that of offering the audience, beside truth, personality, coherence, also an incredible spiritual comfort. With Ion Caramitru on stage, you are protected. You cannot go astray. It is as if you always had in your chest pocket a secret safety code. Or a magic wand. You feel inspired. And strong”.          

Răzvana Niţă, Port.ro – Under the Theatre’s Spell  - The PINo Code 

„It is always both quiet and restless around your master, but Alexandru Călin and Ion Caramitru seem to have found the balance in a relationship meant to confirm the unity of the team from „The Tempest”. As to the Master, he never plays down expectations and this must be hard, maybe even terrible. We recapture the harmony of the show staged at the Bucharest National Theatre under the spell cast upon the actors by Morfov and the entire team behind the scenes.(...) Morfov, himself a true directorial Prospero (...) Crina Semciuc as Miranda gives an equally powerful and ethereal performance. (...) Mihai Călin confers distinctive warmth to a character whose humanity has been interpreted in every way possible. (...) An exceptionally good savage this Mihai Călin. (...) Fluidity is the word characterising Istvan Teglaş’ performance. (...) the three hours of the show pass fluidly”.

Andrei Crăciun, Metropolis newspaper – The Other Tempest  

"...Scenographer Nikola Toromanov proposes a stage with all ”harnesses” on view and polyvalent: island, troubled sea, forest with lianas, sailing ship, shelter etc. In this space, Morfov unfolds his imagination, inspiration and, last but not least, his humour.

Ion Caramitru, this great aristocrat of the stage, embodies a distinguished and shrewd Prospero, simultaneously generous and cynical, deeply human, but also ruthless.

Upon departure, one takes home the joy of having witnessed an artistic performance of first magnitude – Ion Caramitru, Mihai Călin, István Téglás – supported by an excellent team.

A show aiming at offering you a state of wellbeing. And it succeeds even ".

Gabriela Hurezean, Muses and Weapons – Shakespeare’s Tempest and Nikita’s Cube 

"In Morfov’s version, only Prospero and Caliban are left of Shakespeare, the rest is a "Morfov cocktail ", able to inebriate some, but certainly unable to feed anyone".

Cristina Modreanu, ArtAct Magazine - The Two Tempests: Korsunovas versus Morfov  

"On the way from extravaganza to philosophical story, from text to show, The Tempest staged by Alexander Morfov at NTB is another proof of the substantial prodigiousness of the Shakespearean chef d’oeuvre from which any creator expects answers to fundamental questions.

"The classic" Alexander Morfov (...)  sur­prises with his new enactment from the National Theatre of Bucharest, after Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The modernity of his theatrical thinking is jumping now directly to postmodernism, in line with the spirit of the time, naturally dominated by this stylistic mixture, from which, frankly, we keep waiting for something new to emerge. Thus, his show has, both at the level of ideas and of form, the appearance of an attempt of synthesis, which almost any artist aware of the phenomenon experiences today, on his own, especially when it comes to classical works". 

Doina Papp, Revista 22 - Prospero and the Elves in Jeans  

"...A bold gesture, I say, that the manager of any theatre in the world should include in the repertoire one of the metaphor-plays written by Shakespeare (1564-1616). A bold gesture also from any actor in the world, to include in the list of Shakespearean characters that he would wish to interpret, Prospero himself! But lo and behold, Ion Caramitru assumes these bold attempts! And he succeeds with flying colours!

Alongside Caramitru - brilliant Prospero! young and exceptional actors of the Bucharest National Theatre appear: Crina Semciuc (Miranda), Mihai Călin (Caliban), Istvan Teglas (Ariel) – to quote only the ones interpreting the leading roles. 

Silvia Kerim, Formula As no.1123 - "Caramitru la apogeu"  

"Alexander Morfov has great talent regarding innovations in detail, but he does not have a new and interesting vision on the play, except for the conception of the character Prospero (if this is not moreover Ion Caramitru’s merit). 

(...) Two performances transcend the norm. Crina Semciuc constructs a modern Miranda, able to state her options and to face paternal authority, which does not diminish her poetic charm. Istvan Teglas seemed to me the best Ariel I have ever seen".

Adrian Mihalache, Teatrul azi magazine no.7-8-9/2014 - Prospero’s Despair

A “golden” triad detaches itself: Miranda - Crina Semciuc, through frailty, force, charisma; Ariel - István Téglás, through bodily plasticity and subtle psychological nuances, embodying a charming „airy spirit”; Caliban - Mihai Călin, in an exceptional creation, surprising through the mixture of the grotesque and the graceful, a conquering image of ugliness.

In Caramitru’s utterance, a secret force pervades the words. We feel „the charmed and heart-rending reverie of Shakespeare”. Master of ceremony and raisonneur of the show, the actor shocks during the applauses, when he tears off his moustache. A prophetic gesture for an amnesic and autistic generation and the Tempest to come (?!).

Ludmila Patlanjoglu, Cotidianul – Prospero – Caramitru and the Generation of the Apocalypse 

"Two more years have passed and in 2014 I met Prospero from the show enacted by Alexandr Morfov at the National Theatre of Bucharest. That Prospero - Einstein in the performance of Ion Caramitru. Surprisingly, Prospero's willful physical likeness to the physicist who freed us from the cubicle of bidimensionality and translated to us in scientific terms the free will that divinity gave to us was the key which my perfect geometric shape needed in order to be moved. This Prospero creator of freedom through science, so acutely tuned to the present time, so strikingly lonely in a world of buffoons living small alongside, but not with him, the one who predicts the inevitable end of the consequences of irreversible facts, this iconic figure transposed scenically, has set in motion the whole gear of my accumulations of knowledge on the character. "

Alina Epingeac, Yorick - Prospero - between war and peace  

Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

3 representations held within the International Theatre Festival of Beijing, June 2018

Presented within the Shakespeare International Theatre Festival, April 2018

2 representations held at the first international edition of the Open-Air Theatre Festival of Thessaloniki, Forest Festival NTNG, July 2017

Presented within MITEM (Madach International Theater Meeting), organized by the National Theatre of Budapest, April 2015

Selected within the National Theatre Festival, October 2014

Awards:

Mihai Calin - UNITER 2015 Award for Best actor in a supporting part for the role of Caliban.

Translated by Simona Nichiteanu