SEAS 2024: The Truth

The performance The Truth, a production of the "Mihai Eminescu" National Theater in Timișoara, will take place on August 16 at 9:00 PM at Grădina Tomis as part of SEAS 2024.

In a completely different tone from Florian Zeller’s most well-known plays in Romania—The Father, The Mother, The Son—but just as striking, The Truth holds up an uncomfortable mirror to the audience and introduces a lens that often radically alters our perception of others and their actions—or even our own: lies.

To what extent truth and lies sit at opposite ends of reality, and how many shades of gray fit between them, is a theme that provokes discomfort. But Zeller relies on the wisdom of laughter, on playful interpretation.

The story is one that has been both spoken and left unspoken, not always in equal parts, since the dawn of time. At its core, it’s a very simple tale about an adulterer in a world of adulterers, a liar in a world of liars. The main character, as much a womanizer as a loudmouth and a bluffer, is ironically obsessed with truth. But, as in real life, his obsession is superficial; he is far more interested in the word itself than its meaning, its role, or its uses.

Zeller invites us to think of lies as tools with multiple functions. Through the words of this liar, surrounded by others who deceive him in turn, Zeller presents lies to the audience like a toy. In this way, seduced by the play of mirrors, and in the safety of the theater, each spectator will respond to this lively story as their own inner self urges them to. (Codruța Popov)

Author: Florian Zeller
Translation: Radu Iacoban
Director: Radu Iacoban
Set Design: Tudor Prodan
Costume Design: Diana Itul
Lighting Design: Gerhard Crăciun
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes, no intermission

Cast: Matei Chioariu, Alina Ilea, Cristina König, Romeo Ioan

Tickets can be purchased from mySTAGE.ro or Bilet.ro.