Exit the King Presented at the 36th National Theatre Festival

The Hungarian Theatre of Cluj’s production of Exit the King will be presented on Wednesday, October 21, at 8:30 pm in Bucharest as part of the 36th National Theatre Festival (Festivalul Național de Teatru – FNT). Based on the play by Eugène Ionesco and directed by Gábor Tompa, the Cluj company’s production will be showed at the Studio of the I. L. Caragiale National Theatre in Bucharest.

Following the Bucharest guest performance, Cluj audiences will have a chance to catch the play next on November 18, as part of the 10th anniversary edition of the Interferences International Theatre Festival.

The 36th edition of the National Theatre Festival, organized as a permanent program of the Romanian Theatre Association (UNITER), will take place in Bucharest between October 16–25, 2026. The festival is one of Romania’s most significant theatrical events, providing an opportunity year after year for the diversity and complexity of Romanian theater to come together and be showcased.

“Exit the King, the latest production in the repertoire of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, is a painful and meticulous journey through the labyrinth of the death throes. Bérenger is the first King and the last on the throne of his own life. Just like any one of us. Death is an experience. The death throes are the antechamber where we can prepare for it. In Tompa’s production, this antechamber is a place of absolute mystery.” – wrote Marina Constantinescu about the production.

The Bucharest guest performance continues the production’s series of festival appearances this year: Exit the King was also presented in September at the International Black Sea Theater Festival in Varna.

The cast includes: Ervin Szűcs, Csilla Varga, Csilla Albert, Lóránd Váta, Hannah Daradics, and Ferenc Sinkó.

The production’s creative team includes: Gábor Tompa (director), András Both (set designer), Angéla Balogh (costume designer), Csaba Boros (composer), Ferenc Sinkó (stage movement), Romeo Groza (lighting designer), Ilona Varga-Járó (puppet maker), and Dorottya Képíró (assistant director). The production was created using György Gera’s Hungarian translation.

Tickets for the Bucharest performance of Exit the King can be purchased online at bilet.ro. Tickets for the Cluj performances are available at the theater box office and online at huntheater.biletmaster.ro.