The International Association of Theater Critics Award granted for the first time in the National Theater Festival on its 22^nd edition

Aligning itself to other theatrical events with tradition in Europe, this year the National Theater Festival submitted its program to international critical “judgment” for the first time. Upon the request of the International Association of Theater Critics (IATC), in the Executive Committee of which Romania is represented by the president of the Romanian section of the Association, the critic Alice Georgescu, a jury of three members of IATC gave an award bearing the name of the prestigious Association during the closing ceremony of the festival yesterday evening (4 November).

After watching the shows included in the Something for everybody and Tomorrow’s theater sections, Yun-Cheol Kim, university professor at the Central Drama Academy in Seoul, South Korea, founding director of the international online publication Critical Stages, president of the IATC, Raymond Bertin, theater critic and journalist, editor of Jeu magazine in Montreal, Canada, and Octavian Saiu, theatrologist, university professor, vice-president of the Romanian section of IATC, decided to focus on the future of theater, hence on the young participants in the festival.

Thus, the jury granted the “Young Hopefuls” Award of the International Association of Theater Critics to M House, a production of the Coliseum Arts Center in Chişinău, Republic of Moldova, featuring Snejana Puică, Mihaela Strâmbeanu, Ina Surdu, Irina Vacarciuc, script and director: Luminiţa ŢÎcu / “a powerful show with a minimalist, yet vigorous, documentary-like approach by the stage director, sending a bold message about the dark experience of abuse suffered by women in Bessarabia, and featuring a solid cast.”

The jury also unanimously decided to grant the “Young Hopefuls” Award of the International Association of Theater Critics to the actress Ioana Manciu, whose performance displayed “a sense of vulnerability and genuine truth, as well as exquisite skill in alternating roles” (the characters Dvori and The Prosecutor in Games in the Backyard by Edna Mazya, a production of ACT Theater directed by Bobi Pricop).

The two productions were shown in the Tomorrow’s theater section of the NTF 2012.