Arte-Factum and Parrabbola Launch New International Theatre Co-Production Inspired by Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida

Independent theatre company Arte-Factum, based in Timișoara, Romania, and Parrabbola, based in London, have launched a new international theatre project bringing together artists from the United Kingdom, Australia and Romania.

The project takes its inspiration from one of William Shakespeare’s least frequently performed plays, Troilus and Cressida — a complex and unsettling work that feels particularly resonant in our own times.

Set against the backdrop of war, the play explores the human consequences of conflict for those caught up in it: people who have no voice in the decisions that determine their lives, yet who ultimately become its collateral victims.

Bringing Shakespeare’s world into dialogue with the music of early 20th-century European cabaret, this new production poses a central question:

How do we survive?

The first stage of the Research and Artistic Exploration Laboratory, held in Timișoara throughout September, generated a wealth of powerful and compelling ideas, while revealing a rare creative chemistry among the members of the artistic team.

The company now looks forward to entering the next phase of rehearsals and the Theatre Introspection Laboratory, which will take place in October.

The production brings together two distinctive theatre companies: Romania’s independent Arte-Factum, recognised for its radical and highly theatrical approaches to classical texts, and the UK-based Parrabbola, whose work is rooted in the art of storytelling and in exploring the world around us through theatre.

The two actors at the heart of the co-production bring extensive professional and international experience to the project.

Brett Brown

Australian actor, opera director and librettist Brett Brown trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). His career spans theatre, opera, film and classical music, with a particular engagement with both Baroque and contemporary repertoire. As an actor and singer, he has performed extensively on stage, including collaborations with the Royal Shakespeare Company and appearances in London’s West End.

His work as a performer and creator has also taken him to international stages. His acclaimed solo production of Henry V, directed by Philip Parr, has toured internationally and was awarded Best Shakespeare Solo Performance at the Ostrava Festival.

Levente Kocsárdi

Levente Kocsárdi is a Hungarian-Romanian actor and theatre director. He studied at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Acting and a Master’s degree in Directing. He is currently a PhD candidate at the same university.

Since 1997, he has been a member of the Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre in Timișoara. A bilingual actor working in both Hungarian and Romanian, Kocsárdi has built a career across both state and independent theatre, performing major roles at theatres in Timișoara and Arad, as well as appearing in international productions and tours in Hungary, Sweden, Austria and Germany.

Over the course of his career, he has performed more than 120 roles in Hungarian- and Romanian-language productions, working with a wide range of acclaimed directors. He has also directed productions for both state and independent theatre companies.

Kocsárdi is the Artistic Director of Arte-Factum, where, for the past decade, he has led the Theatre Introspection Laboratory and the independent theatre season Nocturnalii. His most recent Shakespeare-inspired production, Hamlet Mortuus Est, has toured international theatre festivals across several countries and continents, earning enthusiastic reviews and international critical acclaim, from  audiences and theatre critics.

Philip Parr

The production is directed by Philip Parr, an internationally acclaimed theatre director whose Shakespeare productions have been presented on stages around the world. His work includes an acclaimed production of Pericles, created in Timișoara.

Parr is also the Director of the York International Shakespeare Festival in the United Kingdom and Chair of the European Shakespeare Festivals Network.

At the most recent edition of the International Shakespeare Festival, Philip Parr was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor Honoris Causa) by the University of Craiova, in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the promotion of theatre and to the development of international cultural partnerships.

“I am delighted to be working with two powerful and highly creative artists on this production, bringing together their complementary talents to create a new and remarkable performance. We are starting from a beautiful but rarely performed play and using it to tell a story about the devastation caused by war — a story we need to hear in these times.” — Philip Parr, director

The next phase of the theatre laboratory and rehearsals will begin on 6 October 2026 in Timișoara, with a particular focus on the musical dimension of the production.

The co-production is being developed with an international touring trajectory in mind, emerging from a cross-cultural dialogue that connects different theatrical traditions, artistic practices and ways of seeing the world today.

Photo credit: Cornel A. Putan / Arte-Factum

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