Tamás Jászay, Seestage.org 

1978 - seen by the critics

"Above all, it’s a fascinating document. In a region not immune to historical revisionism, where Yugoslavia is often framed as either a socialist utopia or a brutal dictatorship, Janežič’s 12-part project is an act of collective remembering. As previous generations slip away taking their stories with them, this project acts as a kind of memory tapestry, a shimmering link with the past."

Natasha Tripney, A dance to the music of time: Tomi Janežič’s 1978

"For each of the three acts, the director follows a downward movement from the upper to the lower floors, culminating in a dystopian storage area representing the Isonzo Front, now located in present-day Slovenia. At an intermediate stop on the first floor, we witness the comedic and literal destruction of theatre’s “fourth wall,” a directorial choice that could be interpreted as a symbolic and spatial descent into the heart of darkness, into the concept of violence and the absurdities of human psychology."

Savas Patsalidis, Critical Stages

"1978 is a crazily creative, mind-blowingly playful and unconventional piece (or better to say, a piece that merges multiple theatrical conventions). Janežič’s Timișoara show is an example of how theatre can be a positively challenging experience if we only loosen up our usual expectations and constraints in theatre making."

Borisav Matic, Showcase in Timișoara: Multiculturalism in action

"Priče koje pratimo, skoro pet sati, u raznim ambijentima, uokvirene su tipičnim socijalističkim rumunskim stanom, u "total dizajnu" sedamdesetih, uz ironično izvođenje žive muzike na sceni. Raspad mnogih država, pad Berlinskog zida, zajednička sudbina nama bliskih naroda, koja nije mimoišla nikoga od nas, posledični ratni sukobi, razaranje porodica i prijateljstava, pogađaju tačno svakoga u gledalištu... Posebna nit, koja povezuje proživljene životne lomove je činjenica da su mnogi bili prisiljeni da se bore sa obe strane fronta. Pa tako i Mađari, u temišvarskoj predstavi, a sve u storitelingu autora, dok ne stignemo u pograničnu Novu Goricu..."

Dragana Boskovic (Serbia) - Vecernje novosti - Janežičeva dodekalogija

Shakespeare’s late play Pericles is rarely staged in theatres in Southeast Europe. Borisav Matić talked to director Philip Parr about his recent production of the play for the Hungarian State Theatre “Csiky Gergely” in Timisoara, his international career and the difference between  UK and continental approaches to Shakespeare. Philip Parr: “There’s a wealth of passion for Shakespeare outside the UK”

„An orange rubber boat stands on the stage with a motionless body inside. The stage of the Hungarian State Theatre “Csiky Gergely” is covered with a digital painting of the sea and its crashing waves, one wonders who the wet, motionless actor in the boat represents. Is it an asylum seeker on his way to Europe? Has he drowned while crossing the Mediterranean?" Borisav Matic, seestage.org, 21th of March 2024 Hungarian State Theatre “Csiky Gergely”, Timisoara, premiere 8th March 2024

„Shakespearean text that rarely sees the limelight, Pericles delights, from Timișoara, through simplicity and originality, seamless fusion of various aesthetics, and through the visual and functional reminder of the coexistence of diverse backgrounds, and acceptance of the “foreigner”. The main character, spending most of his life in utter despair, longing for his lost wife and daughter is welcomed, integrated, and aided in his growth by people who see beneath and beyond the differences, deep down to the core of the Human. This warm, moralizing story quickly fades away when the narrator calls for an end; the tempest does, eventually, bring the ship back into a safe, comforting harbor.” An Odyssey from Timisoara, Teodora Medeleanu, The Theatre Times