class="">Mircea Cornișteanu: “There should be drama education classes in school”

Mircea Cornișteanu (aged 70) has been managing the National Theatre of Craiova for 14 years. A regular of the National Theatre Festival, the director talked to us about the expectations which the current edition awoke.

An interview by Andrei Crăciun

In 2014, the NTF proposes an exceptional accomplishment of the Craiova National / Eugène Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros” ,a show staged by the great American director Robert Wilson. Find out more about this and much, much more, including the role Radio Drama played in the master’s childhood as well as the time when director Cornișteanu was merely lathe worker Cornișteanu, in the following paragraphs. And in order to appeal to the younger generations , Mircea proposes the introduction of theatrical and musical education classes in the national curriculum.

The other people involved in the NTF, directors, actors, theatre managers, with whom I’ve talked to so far are of the opinion that the Festival’s most anticipated shows are all from the provinces .Do you share this view?

Yes. It’s simple, you really only have to check the programme.

You’re a regular of the National Theatre Festival ,you were there to see its evolution. What do you expect from this edition?

To keep up the good work from the previous editions and to get rid of the unfortunate ideas that sprung up along the way. To fill the halls with paying viewers, not only with invited guests. To make them into an opportunity for debates that would help us all better ourselves.

What should we expect from this “Rhinoceros” ,staged by Robert Wilson in Craiova? You said in a radio interview that Wilson speaks a new language, one which you didn’t know before. What are the specifics of this language?

To rise above expectations. Whoever wants to see something they expect, as some said, will be disappointed. Wilson speaks to us in his own language, which differs from that of many of us, but which can be understood if you come to the show without any prejudices and with a real desire to see and to understand.

In Bucharest ,the situation of the rest of the theatres, throughout the country is largely unknown, even the national ones. What other marvellous things are going on in Craiova?

At Craiova, Cluj, Sibiu, Timisoara, as well as in other theatres in the country, the great creators of the world are gathering- what can be more marvellous than this? That throughout the country there are festivals which receive guests from the greatest theatres of the word, while Bucharest only enjoys such events by accident?

Do people from Olt go to the theatre? There’s this effervescence in town, what’s being prepared to run for the title of European Cultural Capital in 2021, do the authorities help, hinder, what are they doing?

In Craiova there’s a real effervescence from the struggle of winning the title of European cultural capital. For about a year now, the people of Craiova have seen all sorts of manifestations and cultural events held by every major cultural institution of the city, generously funded by the Local and Municipal Counties, the Craiova City Hall and numerous sponsors.

How is the directorial chair in which Amza Pellea also sat like?

Costache Caragiali, Emil Gârleanu, Geo Dumitrescu, Manu Nedeianu, Emil Boroghină, they also sat here, and so, it’s a great honour for me to continue this 160-year old tradition. I’ve been trying, for 14 years of running the Craiova theatre, to maintain the high level which it achieved. I don’t always succeed, but enough of our shows in these past years have ended up in the history of Romanian theatre. All in all, it’s not easy, but it is worth it.

You confessed in an interview to have fallen in love with theatre through Radio Drama. What are the ways through which a primary school child, as you were when you fell in love, can get closer to theatre? Do you have specially-designed programmes for the youth of Craiova?

The times of when I was a young boy are over and I doubt that theatre in front of a microphone may ever enamour another child again. I think there should be special theatrical and musical education courses in school, but also that theatres should improve their effort of distributing tickets in schools. We have shows that address children and the youth, but we don’t have a lengthy coherent programme . That is, however, an assignment I’ve given to three of our new employees in the PR department.

I’ve seen you at the HOP Gala, in Costinesti. You told the young actors that the gates of the Craiova National are open to them. What is the hiring situation like in the theatre you’re managing?

We have many young employees, throughout the years we’ve brought in our company a lot of fresh graduates from Craiova and Bucharest. We also have many young actors who play under collaboration contracts. The last two young employees are director Bobi Pricop and set designer Adriana Dinulescu, on the 1^st of October 2014.

You’ve been ,following high-school, a carousel-lathe worker for one year. What exactly does a carousel-lathe worker do? Were the colleagues in the factory theatre enthusiasts? Have you converted any more lathe workers to the religion of theatre?

A carousel lathe worker used to work, and you might find this hard to believe, at a carousel lathe, in my case a Niles one, with a 3200 chuck. I used to make wheels for the cement production lines, each wheel weighing between 1 and 2 tonnes. I don’t know if any lathe worker loved theatre and I also didn’t try to convert any of them. I only started with theatre in 1969, I had been a lathe worker since 1961.

Theatre festivals and independent theatre productions have multiplied in the last few years, something I understand you look kindly upon. Is Romanian theatre at a good stage ,and if so, why?

Romanian theatre is the way it is, for better or for less than ideal. The fact that important creators come to Romania to work, that we can enjoy valuable international shows at many of our festivals, that many Romanian shows are invited the world over (TNC is an example of this), make me believe that we can compare ourselves with other theatrical movements and that we can handle them through many of our Romanian shows.

“Being there for all the world to see, even if you are a mediocre actor, even the doorman will greet you differently”, you used to say. What would you advise a mediocre artist? To give up? Can theatre be achieved without mediocrity? What must a theatre manager do to avoid mediocrity?

I don’t have any advice to give to anyone. I don’t think you can do it, be it theatre or anything else, without mediocrity. Mediocrity is normal, in every field. Think about how things would go in a world filled with genius. The trouble with theatres is that we manage to showcase the qualities of the less-gifted, so as to determine the doorman to greet them respectfully. It can be done!

Photo: Florin Chirea