class="">About the 2014 NTF

About the 2014 NTF

In my previous term – 2005-2007 – I conceived a festival structure which highlighted the Director, his relationships with his own projects, and the different dialogues with entirely dissimilar companies from all over the country, and I felt the need to set up sections and modules that provided a more accurate image of the theatrical phenomenon, attempting even to outline classifications and hierarchies.

16 September 2014,  Articles

EXCLUSIVELY FOR  www.fnt.ro. An editorial by theater critic Marina Constantinescu, artistic director of the National Theater Festival.   

In my previous term / 2005-2007 / I built a Festival structure that had at its heart the Director, his relationship with his own projects, and the different kinds of dialogue with entirely different companies from all over the country, and I tried to set up categories and modules that provided a more accurate image of the theatrical phenomenon, going as far as to attempt classifications and hierarchies. This time I chose to focus on the real dynamics and the clear, purified diversity of theatrical life.

There is no one type of theatre. Its expressivity generates powerful and recognizable nuclei and directions of growth that must be brought on the same plane. Therefore, the image I propose for the 2013-2014 season / the object of the analysis of this National Theater Festival edition / is intended to show the wide, lively variety that exists and manifests itself simultaneously in our theatrical life.

From performances with a broad esthetic and technical scope to small-scale shows that concentrate on the actor’s technique and the intimacy of the acting space, from realistic theatre to dance theater, choreographic theatre, pantomime, or document theater, from the increasingly frequent accent on the powerful, provoking texts of classical or contemporary drama to the recovered tradition of Yiddish theater: All these are areas of interest for our theatre performers.

There is a great number of productions of all kinds at present. This is a very good thing, but it does not necessarily imply quality. In my opinion, the number of remarkable shows in the targeted time interval is quite small. It would take many performances to make one memorable show, taking the performance of some actors from here, a flash of directing inspiration from there, or a set designer’s idea, that shapes everything on stage, from elsewhere.

A Festival is not supposed to “beautify” the real, actual theatrical phenomenon. Nor is it supposed to pick only the cream of the crop, as we would for a UNITER gala. At the same time, it mustn’t go for diluted, inconsequential productions by major directors. In this respect, I selected for each director what I considered to wholly represent him in a complex manner / not generally speaking, but in the season at issue, that of 2013-2014.

I am a staunch believer in value and in quality theatre, in forms that provoke the spirit and push things forward. I have enormous respect for all the artists who ply their trade with devotion, confidence, and frenzy at a time when culture, art, education seem to no longer matter / not even secondarily. The performances of actors live in every show, every night, beyond the contextual selection for a festival or an award.

I assume with full responsibility the structure of the Festival, its esthetic program, and the financial program entailed by the structure I have planned. And I will bear any constructive, efficient criticism that can help me define a Festival with an identity and a clear image, a Festival meant to be a country-wide brand ,able to give nuances to dialogue, mutual respect, and cultural and intellectual solidarity in our spiritual space.

I wish to thank the two Festival directors who preceded me ,beginning with 2008. Cristina Modreanu and Alice Georgescu fought to take the Festival forward, overcoming barriers of all sorts to keep the engine going and to discover new roads and circuits. We always suffered when a political change brought with it, as usual, the impulse to erase everything, to cancel all that had been done. I believe in continuity and in identifying the solid, valid, substantial things that I should take over and carry on with. I also wish to thank the professional teams whose dedication made the Festival possible, as well as the technical teams who equally demonstrated their professionalism.

Photo: TVR

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24 July 2014