class="">Mario Mattia Giorgeti: “Through the festival, I was able to understand the Romanian soul”

Mario Mattia Giorgeti: “Through the festival, I was able to understand the Romanian soul”

Mario Mattia Giorgeti is an actor and director, the artistic manager of the Centre of Contemporary Art for Actors in Milano, which he founded himself. He’s also been running the Sipario magazine, which is dedicated to show arts ,since 1984. He says the duty of a writer is to be pro-positivity in the community.

1 November 2014,  Articles

Mario Mattia Giorgeti is an actor and director, the artistic manager of the Centre of Contemporary Art for Actors in Milano, which he founded himself. He’s also been running the Sipario magazine, which is dedicated to show arts ,since 1984. He says the duty of a writer is to be pro-positivity in the community.

An interview by Judy Florescu

What do you think about the National Theatre Festival, as opposed to that back in Italy?

I am in Romania for the second time at this festival, and my opinion of it couldn’t be higher.Through the festival, I was able to understand the Romanian soul. I managed to understand what Romania is today. The specifics of the National Theatre Festival in Bucharest are that here you allocate spaces for the cultural expression of the whole country. From the festival, one can gather the cultural breadth of the nation, which isn’t possible in any of the other foreign festivals. Abroad, they make festivals which are directly connected with the said region, for the purpose of promoting tourism, of stimulating the public consume.

Which are the views of Italian audiences on theatre shows?

Italian audiences show very little interest, because it is an audience which feeds upon what it sees on TV. We are currently in the midst of an economic crisis, and this crisis affects theatre productions. The shows being staged in Italy today are extremely commercial in nature. We’ve lost the will to know, to find out more.

I believe Italy is a country in decline. It’s a country who doesn’t manage to understand the importance of culture as a factor of progress. Culture may be a factor of economic progress just as well as it can be a factor of progress for the soul. Culture makes the economy.

What shows have you seen this year in the Festival?

I’ve seen three shows. The first was called “Victor, or power to the children”, about which I wrote good reviews on the Sipario website. Even if the script is very old, it seems here,in Romania, it’s still viable, because there’s a need to rebuild after what happened during the communist age. I also saw “Typographic Capital Letters”, a theatre-document show, which shouted “freedom”. It’s a show meant as an alarm for the youth today. They must know the historical facts which ruined the Romanian nation.

And the third show?

“The Devil’s casting”. The idea of the show was based on the fact that television tries to win man over in order to use him for its own needs. Television attempts to capture the creativity and talent of the artists for its own ego. And this is another alarming sign. Power must be in the hands of the people, and not those of the most influent. Yesterday, at the show, I saw a very wealthy man trying to amuse his young son at the expense of the young artists. And this must not be tolerated by audience or artists alike. The artists feel as if they were clowns.

What should be the message of those who write theatre for us, the readers?

In my opinion, the author’s message is this: say the things which fit, say the things which aid the civic, social and human progress. The author’s message is the message of a person who creates alchemy. Writers are authorised to put together as many ingredients as needed to convey meaning to an important event. So, the job of a writer has to do with responsibility. One mustn’t cheat one’s readers. One mustn’t upset those who do not agree with one’s writing, because, otherwise, it shall become negative. The job or duty of a writer is to be pro-positivity in his community

Photo: Lucian Muntean