The Scarlet Princess

Please note: Scarlet Princess performances will start at 19:30. Les Halles will open their doors at 18.30.

1^st part: 65 '- 20' intermission - 2^nd part 75 '

The Scarlet Princess is a piece by Tsuruya Nanboku IV. Nanboku was the son of a 19th century dry-cleaner when he joined a famous kabuki troupe to then become one of the most famous writers of his time. 

In The Scarlet Princess, Father Seigen falls in love with one of his young disciples. Forced to have a platonic love, they both decide to kill themselves. But the priest survives. Seventeen years later, a princess comes to the temple to become a nun. The priest sees in her the reincarnation of his former lover. 

The Scarlet Princess is a play about obsessive passions, murders and vengeance. And that’s why Silviu Purcarete, great master of the Romanian theatre, chose to stage this story, using his great talent for images and irony. 

He is adapting the kabuki codes – sophisticated costumes and make-up, abundance of stage tricks, etc. – and use them so the tens of performers and technicians can fully occupy the Grande Halle. He is also using European techniques, a hint of expressionism, an atmosphere and excursus that underline the humour of the original text. 

A major theatre event of Europalia Romania !