Gábor Tompa
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Gábor Tompa is a Romanian theater director and teacher, born in Târgu Mureş on August 8, 1957. Since 2007 he has been Head of Directing at the Theatre and Dance Department of the University of California, San Diego. He graduated in stage and film directing at the "I.L. Caragiale” Theatre and Film Academy in Bucharest in 1981 as a student of Liviu Ciulei and Mihai Dimiu, Cătălina Buzoianu, founders of the world-famous Romanian school of stage directing.
Professional career
Since 1981 Tompa has directed plays at the Cluj-Napoca Hungarian Theatre in Cluj-Napoca. In 1987 he became the artistic director of the theatre, after the political revolution in Hungary he became the managing of the theatre as well. He has staged more the 60 plays and produced other 60 in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain, in addition to Hungary and Romania - in Engiish French, German, Romanian, Hungarian, and other languages.
From 1989 he has been professor at the „Szentgyörgyi István” Theatre Academy in Târgu Mureş. He founded the Faculty of Dramatic Art in Cluj and run the directing programme of it since 1991. From 1990–1995 he was Head of directing at the Theatre Academy in Târgu Mureş; in 1991 he founded the Theatre and Drama Faculty in Cluj-Napoca. In 2005 he directed the M.A. program at Brunel University, London, UK . He has taught classes and workshops for actors and directors in Spain, the UK, and France.
From March 2006 to April 2008 (when the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj joined the UTE) he was an individual member of the Union of European Theatres.
Movies
Shorts: Behind the Mask - director (Romanian Television) 1978, Fugue - director (Romanian Television) 1979 Features: Chinese Defence – director (Hungarian-Romanian-French coproduction) 1999
Published works
- Lidércbánya – Mine of Nightmares (selected poems, Pallas Akadémia, 2004)
- Noé Színháza – Noah’s Theatre (selected poems, Pallas Akadémia, 2004)
- A hűtlen színház – The Unfaithful Theatre An essay on stage direction, Bucharest, 1987)
- A késdöfés gyöngédsége – The Tenderness of Stabbing (studies, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 1995)
- Óra, árnyékok – Clock, Shadows (poems, Bucharest, Romania, 1989)
- Készenlét – Alertness (poems, Budapest, Hungary, 1990)
- Romániai magyar négykezesek – Four-handed Pieces (poems, with András Visky, Pécs, Hungary, 1994)
- Aki nem én – Not I (poems, Târgu Mureş, Romania, 1996)
- Depressio Transilvaniae – (Four-handed sonnets with A. F. Kovács, Miercurea Ciuc, Romania, 1998)
Awards
UNITER (Romanian Theater Union)
- Nominated to the Best Performance Award, 2005 (Waiting for Godot)
- Nominated to the Best Performance Award, 2003 (Jacques or the Obedience)
- Award for Excellence – 2002
- Best Director of the Year in Romania (1984–ATM, 1987–ATM, 1993, and 1997)
- Best Performance of the Year (1989, 1992)
Artist Meritorious of Hungary (2002)
The Distinction of the Romanian President, 2000
Critics' Award (ITI Romania, 1997)
“Interference”- Price of Romanian Culture Foundation, 1997
Best Performance of the Year in Yugoslavia (1990)
Best Foreign Performance of the Year in England (1993)
The Festival of the Romanian Comedy (2007) – Best Directing
The Festival of the Romanian Dramaturgy (2004) – Best Directing
”I. L. Caragiale" National Theatre Festival – Best Directing (1992, 1996)
Hungarian National Theatre Festival (1996) – Best Director
International Theatre Festival - Chişinău (1994)
- Best Director
- Best Performance
Theaterpreis, Stuttgart (1995)
Media Excellency Prize (2008)
Golden Apple Award (2007)
Szabadság Prize (2004)
EMKE-Prise (1992)
Kriterion-Prise (1997)
“Cuvîntul“- Prise, (1996)
Open Society Foundation Romania - Prize for Contemporary Arts theatre, 1998
Nomination for The Irish Times Award - 1999 for Waiting for Godot
Best First Feature Award, International Film Festival, Salerno, Italy, for Chinese Defence
References
- Tompa Gábor Színházi világa / Viziuni scenice/ Theatrical Visions. Cluj-Napoca, Romania: Koinónia, 2007
- Conversation in Six Acts by Florica Ichim. Bucharest, Romania: 2003
See also a large interview and list of perferomances directed by him in http://editura.liternet.ro/carte/237/Miruna-Runcan-Constantin-Cristian-Buricea-Mlinarcic/Cinci-divane-ad-hoc.html