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Regizorul Cristian Pepino a refăcut spectacolul din 1993, „Adunarea păsărilor“ de Farid Uddin Attar, producţie a Teatrului de Animaţie Ţăndărică. Nu a schimbat nimic, dar impactul asupra privitorului este la fel de puternic ca acum 22 de ani. Îl puteţi vedea pe 25 octombrie, de la ora 11.00, pe 26 octombrie, de la ora 19.00 şi pe 1 noiembrie, de la ora 11.00, la Teatrul de animaţie Ţăndărică.
15 October 2015, Articles
October 15th 2015
Director Cristian Pepino revisited his 1993 production of “The Assembly of the Birds” by Farid Uddin Attar, a production of the Ţăndărică Pupett Theatre. He did not change anything; still the impact upon the spectator is as strong as 22 years ago. The performance is scheduled on October 25th, at 11.00, on October 26th at 19.00 and on November 1st at 11.00 at the Ţăndărică Pupett Theatre..
An interview by Florina Tecuceanu
Florina Tecuceanu: You have revisited an absolutely remarkable performance- the graduation performance of your post- revolutionary, first series of puppetry students the Theatre and Film University in Bucharest. Are there any differences between the old and the new “Assembly of the Birds”?
Cristian Pepino: I haven’t changed a thing. There was nothing to change. The performance is not “dated” and I had the joy of discovering that spectators and reviewers appreciate it now as they did in 1993. Maybe there are some new meanings that were added- at least some say so. But it’s a performance about the human being, in general, without any “contemporary references”, and that is precisely the reason why it doesn’t become obsolete as time flows.
You have preserved the costumes created 20 years ago by your late wife, Cristina Pepino…
Oh,sure! They were refreshed and repaired, but with the idea of a truthful remake of the original.
It is an “in memoriam” performance, dedicated to your wife and to Mihaela Tonitza. It’s most evident that it must have brought back powerful memories!
Of course.Mihaela Tonitza had the ideea of approaching Attar’s poem. She translated it- and this is very important- even though there are no words in the show. But the poem inspired us to construct dramatic situations, a story line, conflict.
Cristina Pepino did more than just designing the costumes- she was part of the team, of the “family”. In fact, Cristina has always given a great helping hand to the performances done at the theatre faculty with the students, without ever being paid for this. We were building the puppets together, with some of the more skilled students.
What made you go back to the “souvenir drawer”?
Călin Mocanu, the manager of the “Ţăndărică” Puppet Theatre, had the initiative of this remake. When he came up with the idea, I asked myself if it would still have the impact it had at the beginning. And, since a significant part of the old cast are still part of the show, and the new ones have perfectly adapted, the remake ran very smoothly and we soon realized the performance had not lost anything to the passage of time.
You are the director, but also the set- designer of this visual, gestural, non- verbal puppetry performance. You have surely noticed the impact it has on the spectator…What is the message the spectator takes with him leaving the auditorium?
I think the message can reach the spectator very well, it doesn’t need to be explained. The performance presents an image of the human being, of the world, of the human duality, when in limit situations. It’s about love and hate, about violence and tenderness, about intolerance and its opposite, about the relationship between the individual and society, about civilization and ruthlessness and so on. Nothing new. Just an opportunity to think a little bit.
Your teachers were Radu Penciulescu and David Esrig. What did you learn from them, what did you take over?
I was immensely lucky to get to know such great teachers and artists. First of all, I learned my craft from them, I learned to make performances that convey something to the spectator…and although they are so different from each other, I think I was influenced by both, Penciulescu and Esrig.
You specialized in puppet theatre. Why this choice? What do puppets offer, what’s different from the “human-actor”?
I chose itbecause of the rich tradition in art animation theatre we have in this country. In my young years, I have seen important puppetry performances directed by Stefan Lenkisch, Kovacs Ildiko or Margareta Niculescu, and designed by great artists such as Paul Fux, Mioara Buescu, Ella Conovici etc. These are the creators that formed in me an ideal of puppet theatre as an art theatre.
Puppets are puppets, humans are humans. A puppet cannot replace an actor; it’s an instrument, a means of expression, something that can add to the actor, something that can serve the actor. The puppet is related to the mask, as Paul Claudel noticed. Acting is similar, in both situations; a good puppeteer must be a good actor. Of course, a puppet is a visual representation of a character, and this is where animation theatre differs from the other arts. It’s an art in which the image, the visual creation are very important. I think my skills in drawing have brought me closer to animation theatre.
What is it you convey to students who want to become puppeteers?
To take their profession very seriously, this is the only way to do important and viable things. To respect this art and themselves.
You were often awarded for your performances and for your activity at the puppet theatre. You wrote books. Are there any secrets of your profession you haven’t discovered yet?
I was very lucky to win awards outside of Romania in the beginning. This is what gave me courage and this is how I managed to be taken seriously here as well. But receiving an award doesn’t mean you know everything, doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to learn, it’s just an encouragement to continue.
Theatre continuously reinvents itself, with every new performance. There are no recipes, no formulas that are universal and forever functional. Society changes, so do the arts, technology…You keep finding out new things.
How about your early days as a director? What impressed you back then?
My first performance as a professional director was at the puppet theatre in Bacău. I was invited there by a great artist, Petru Valter, who gave me important advice for this profession. I worked then for a few years in drama theatres, with great experiences. In 1979 I managed to get hired by the Puppet Theatre in Constanţa, where I was very lucky to work with extraordinary artists (Aneta Forna Christu, Lache Hariton, Gigi Nicolau, set designers Eugenia Tărăsescu-Jianu, Mircea Nicolau and many more). I did learn a lot from them.
Together we made performances that were much appreciated inside and outside Romania. In five years we had already won about 40 awards. I was invited to work in other Romanian animation theatres. Then, in 1985, they invited me to move to the Ţăndărică Theatre.
And Cristian Pepino, the little boy? How was his first encounter with theatre?
I was about three years old and I was returning from church on a Sunday- my grandmother used to take me. I put every single person in the house to kneel down, as people had to do in church, and I was “reading” to them, chanting like a priest and looking into the phone book. All were very amused. But they couldn’t get rid of me until after I had offered them the communion, one little teaspoon of wine. And they had to kiss my hand.
About the encounter with theatre, I can’t remember exactly, but my relatives used to take me to the theatre quite frequently; to theatre, opera, operetta, circus and puppet theatre shows. I was lucky, again.
Is there anything left of that little boy in today’s adult? Can we recognize the ludic spirit of that child in your performances?
My mother, with her incredible sense of humor, still congratulates me on June 1st. I think she has her reasons. The Ludic spirit is an essential condition for art, in my opinion… and I hope it’s visible in the shows I direct.
How would you invite to „The Assembly of the Birds”, how would you convince people to come see it?
Those who saw the show, a while ago or more recently, liked it. We had a great number of presentations; due to the fact that we were often invited to festivals- both audiences and festival directors enjoyed it. We’ve been to Saarbrucken, Tolosa, Charleville-Mezieres, Zagreb, Edinborough, Rjeka etc. It’s true that it wasn’t advertised for, it wasn’t “promoted”. I’m not good at advertising.
October 15th 2015