Gábor Tompa: Director, Poet & Mentor
- RCI USA
- Jan 8
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 23
A Special Event for Romania's National Culture Day
About The Event
We are pleased to invite you to a special event marking National Culture Day of Romania, dedicated to the remarkable artistic journey of Gábor Tompa — internationally acclaimed theatre director, poet, and mentor. The evening will feature a curated dialogue on Tompa’s life and work, illustrated with poetry, rare images and video excerpts from his landmark stage productions, alongside multilingual poetry readings and a live musical moment inspired by the artistic traditions of Transylvania. Guest performers: actors Vas Eli and Flóra Bánhegyi & cellist Mihai Marica.
Meet the Director
Gábor Tompa is an internationally acclaimed theatre, film, and opera director, poet, and cultural leader, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in contemporary European theatre. He graduated in 1981 from the I.L. Caragiale Institute of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, Faculty of Theatre, Film, and Television Directing, where he studied with renowned artists such as Liviu Ciulei, Cătălina Buzoianu, and Silviu Purcărete. Since 1990, he has served as General Director of the Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj-Napoca, transforming it into a major presence on the international stage. Between 1990 and 1995 he taught directing at the Academy of Theatre in Târgu Mureș, and from 2006 to 2019 he was Head of the Directing Program at the University of California, San Diego (USA). Since 2018, he has been President of the Union of Theatres of Europe. Tompa has directed over 120 theatre productions in Europe, North America, and Asia, working extensively across Romania, Hungary, Western Europe, the United States, Canada, and South Korea. His work has been presented at leading international festivals and is recognized for its intellectual rigor and distinctive visual language. Among the authors he has staged most frequently are Shakespeare, Molière, Büchner, Ionesco, Beckett, Bulgakov, Caragiale, and Mrożek. In opera, he has collaborated with major houses in San Diego, Maribor, Cluj, and Graz, directing works such as Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute (Mozart), Bluebeard’s Castle (Bartók), Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Shostakovich), and A Spanish Hour and The Child and the Spells (Ravel). A prolific writer, Gábor Tompa has published twelve volumes of poetry and two volumes of essays. His numerous distinctions include ten UNITER Awards (six for Best Director, three for Best Production, and the Excellence Award), the Order of the Star of Romania (Knight), Best Foreign Production in the United Kingdom, the Theaterpreis Stuttgart, the title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (France), and honors such as Merited Artist and Ambassador of Culture of Hungary.
Meet the Guests
Vas Eli is a Romanian-American actor with a solid career in theater, film, and television, active on stages and screens across the United States. Born in Suceava and trained at the National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest—where he earned his BA and received the “Ștefan Iordache” Award—he continued his studies in the U.S., obtaining an MFA from Brooklyn College as a Friars Club Fellowship recipient. Based in New York, he has performed in acclaimed Off-Broadway productions and appeared in successful TV series such as The Blacklist, The Deuce, and The Night Agent (Netflix), as well as in numerous independent films, for which he has received acting awards. Also active as a director, screenwriter, and educator, Vas Eli is a prominent presence on the contemporary Romanian-American artistic scene.
Flóra Bánhegyi is a Hungarian actress based in New York, working in film, television, and theater. A graduate of the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, she has appeared in various independent productions and short films, including Behind the Curtains and Vicious Cycle. She also appears in the miniseries RIFT and in stage productions such as Chekhov’s The Three Sisters, in which she portrayed Irina. Her recent work includes roles in productions such as Tri Sestry (2024) and French Fries (short film).
Mihai Marica is a Romanian-American cellist of international renown, a recipient of the Dr. Luis Sigall International Competition in Viña del Mar, Chile, and the prestigious Irving M. Klein International Competition, as well as a recipient of the Charlotte White Scholarship. Originally from Romania, he continued his training at the Yale School of Music, where he earned his master’s degree and studied under master teacher Aldo Parisot as part of The Bowers Program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Mihai Marica has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Symphony Orchestra of Chile, the Xalapa Symphony (Mexico), the Hermitage State Orchestra (Russia), the Jardins Musicaux Festival Orchestra (Switzerland), the Louisville Orchestra, and the Santa Cruz Symphony (USA), and has given recitals throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. A dedicated chamber musician, he was a founding member of the award-winning Amphion String Quartet and is currently the cellist of the Apollo Trio, collaborating with leading artists at festivals such as Chamber Music Northwest, Norfolk, and Aspen. He was recently announced as a member of the legendary Takács Quartet beginning September 1, 2026, and will join the faculty of the University of Colorado Boulder as part of the ensemble’s residency.
