de fnt.ro
Magdalena Popa Buluc, în dialog cu Marina Constantinescu, Directorul artistic al Festivalului Național de Teatru.
21 August 2015, Articles
A refined analist, artistic director and selector of the National Theatre Festival, theatre critic Marina Constantinescu, introduces us to the novelties of this edition, a result of an extremely rigorous selection. Marina Constantinescu talks about culture, about the art of dialogue, an art that faded out, about the value of the Romanian language and about the political world of today. Invited performances, international participation, dance, recitals, workshops, conferences, meetings, books launches, exhibitions, performances at the temperature of greatest emotions, prestigious theatre companies, repertoire stagings and attempts to explore the theatrical expression.
An interview by Magdalena Popa Buluc published in the newspaper Cotidianul
Marina Constantinescu melts inteligibility and sensibility into one another; she establishes a communication between the real world and the imaginary world. She creates connections between colour, musical vibration, theatrical form, an alliance between theatre and the other arts.
She succeeds to reconquer the language of words, she devoutly evaluates clearly and professionally the current state of Romanian theatre. Her interior light and the extraordinary temper one can see on her face are the result of a relentless spiritual quest.
Marina loves theatre beyond measure; she loves actors, set designers, directors, composers, she loves dance and color. She has a fabulous experience, which she accumulated over the years.
This fall, don’t miss the opportunity to go applaud young actors and maestros, these “fools” on stage, to share their laughter and their tears.
Marina Constantinescu in Theatre Land
Since you are artistic director and selector of the 25th National Theatre Festival that will take place in Bucharest, from October 23rd to November 1st, I would kindly ask you to tell us about the new elements this edition brings with it. You declared you consider that theatrical time is defined as the time of the theatre maker, of the creator. Here you are again, after a year of hellish work, traveling the country in either frozen or overheated trains, after numerous sleepless nights, having been through so many dramatical events, here you are again, bringing us this wide angle theatre festival. The high price of passion…
I would like to thank you especially for your interest in the National Theatre Festival. I was very pleased to observe the impact that this construction has in the minds and expectations of the spectators. People have started calling us, to ask about the festival schedule, about what’s new…they visit our website. There is an atmosphere around it already, like a sort of prologue to what will follow. Quite shakesperean…I am back at the festival after six years since the end of my first mandate. I think that time, between 2005 and 2007, was a decisive one for the construction of a brand that has gained recognition, our event has become a brand and it’s really vast and it’s in a class of its own in Romania, it’s the only festival that speaks and analyses rationally and responsibly the global national theatrical phenomenon. This is the real, unfixed, picture of Romanian theatre.
The 2015 NTF, orchestrated by Marina Constantinescu
You struggled to achieve a high, elite level, but you’ve faced and continue to face tension, due to the absence of a coherent system, leading to difficulties in the process of organizing an event of such dimension.
There still are some core groups of foolish idealists in Romania, desperately trying to make our lives different and dignified, to leave something important for those to come. To fight against the destruction provoked by incompetent, ridiculous and mean politicians, people who land by I don’t know what means in the chambers of the Parliament or briefly occupy whatever offices. The Romania of normality still exists. That’s my country…Around…just gigantic hats on the heads of dwarfs. Culture is, in a way, a Gulliver walking among these little people. We’d wish they grew up too, we’d wish they understood that only worthiness is important.Wherever and at any time. If there is respect, there is a future. Culture, education, healthcare are fundamental pillars in every country around this globe. That’s quite logical. Here? Exactly and totally the opposite. Intellectuals are being fleered at, gifted teachers are being tortured by the insolence of upstart, ignorat students, our exceptional doctors are discredited day by day. It’s hard to breathe around there…And maybe this is the reason why we worked like crazy for this festival, to show that it’s not all wasted. That the good directions lead elsewhere than one or the other want to show us. If we look into the right direction, we can be the people of the 21st century. Intelligent. Professional. Responsible. Dignified. And therefore, normal. We can experience joy and cherish life. The theatre stories are the stories of our time. Theatre speaks about humans, in such extraordinary way. About each one of us. This is why I don’t get too tired. This is why I don’t fall. Even if I sometimes do, I’ve learned to lift myself up and tell the stories of Romanian theatre. I go everywhere; I search for what is credible all over the country. This season I’ve really discovered many good, solid performances. This is a sign of normality. The more good performances, the higher the chance for the exception, the unique, for the occurrence of a performance to remain as a benchmark in theatre history.
The theatrical phenomenon has become more diverse and has gained nuances. We have to consider this. We can’t keep things separated. It’s not healthy to do that now, when we managed to achieve an atmosphere around us that we could only dream of some twenty years ago, in London or in Paris. This is why I search for gems, for value, in whatever form of expression. And I don’t play with labels: institutionalized theatre, state theatre, private, underground, alternative, pocket size or gigantic. I’ve done this until 2007. Not any more. High quality theatre. This, again, is what this edition is about.
During its 25 years, the NTF has gained an identity; it became a brand within the theatrical world, a mirror set in front of the contemporary stage. As festival director, you have tried to imbed a new way of reckoning this fenomenon, to get out of the rut, away from clichés…
Twentyfive years…yes, nostalgia…and a moment of reflection. There is enough distance for a perspective that might be the right one. Twentyfive years means quite a lot when you think in terms of defining a theatrical phenomenon. It also means something to me, to the paths I have chosen in life. I have remembered the performances that have put their mark on me during these years; I have gone through memories of the atmosphere at the theatre entrance, at the beginning and at the end of a show, of the way in which we knew how to be together, to talk, and to be open, righteous and intensely interested in theatre. The torments of society were the torments of the theatre world. For the theatre community it wasn’t easy, and it’s still not easy now. And not only for this group. In absence of a fair and moral law, in absence of any responsibility taken, with a net of mediocrity and non- value spun over a system anyhow filled with uncertainties, erosion can’t be avoided. Lies, hatered, imposture, malevolence. Absence of a fine tuning through well educated individuals.
Last year’s edition, that you curated, one with a strong identity, meant a recrudescence to the cultural world. You have managed to extend the festival outside the limits of the theatre halls, to conquer streets and malls, to attract young audiences (as examples I’d mention the performances of “Donka” and of those of “West Side Story”- an immense success, a performance commissioned by the festival and directed by Răzvan Mazilu). You aimed at bringing together all the important things, the theatrical, directorial reality, presented in an elegant showcase. After all you have been watching all over the country, how would you rate the 2014 theatrical phenomenon? What are the challenges of this edition?
I’m not a fan of festivisms. I do like celebrations. This is why this year’s edition, even though it’s an anniversary one, will still stand under the sign of worthiness, of the vitality and the dynamics of theatre professions. I didn’t impose any strategies of geographical coverage within the selection. In winter I felt very skeptical about what I could choose. But then, in the second part of the season (2014-15, the season I did work on), things became much broader, gained a lot of nuances and facets; I discovered extremely powerful points of view of the directors, provocative texts, interpretations you can’t ignore. I have seen wonderfully conceived sets, lighting details. If we’d look back, we’d see that this is not the only edition with such a large number of titles in the selection. I think in 2006 and 2007 we had even more. And there was no special edition, no anniversary then. A theatrical phenomenon cannot be watched and analysed in a festivist manner. You can’t force things. You can’t compromise. You start working for the next selection at the beginning of the season, in September, even before the current edition (due from October 23rd to November 1st). Practically you never stop this labour. Complicated…especially here…
This year’s edition is a strong one. I feel there is sobriety in it. Most of the theatre managers are more careful what they produce, how they shape up their repertoires. Ensembles get stronger, working together with the directors invited. Succes is not to be hunted for, not to be desired immediately. An ensemble grows in time; there are many triggers to be pulled in order to put up a production. I think it is important that so many aspire to achievement. This is visible when you look at the selection. This is the change. Achievment doesn’t come out of the blue. Nor does glory, nor does success. This comes from lots of continuous hard work. And then, at a certain point, it’s there, The Perfromance. This year’s selection stands under the sign of sobriety and responsibility. You will understand and rejoice in short time, when you will read the program. We continue with all we have gained: our openness, complexity, our message. We try to extend the live transmissions that we did with an excellent team in Mall Băneasa, to a few other theatres and some other venues identified by Romanian Cultural Institutes. We want to reach out to foreign spectators who want to get to know our culture. We will re-enter the great theatrical circuits. We will keep doing the daily interviews in the newspaper Adevărul- an exceptional collaboration- and the streamings of live performances. We will have the festival passage, in the underground crossing of the University Square. We will have two exhibitions: In Memoriam Gina Patrichi and Purcărete’s World. And I’ll tell you more in autumn. We have new people with us, with my team and UNITER, fresh, strong personalities, who vibrate and give strength, energy, not just money or awareness, who complement us in such a fantastic way!
As you confessed, „We live in a world dominated by disenchantment, by loss of identity and of what is- let’s say- noble, rare and significant to our lives. We live in a tense world and war is an extremely immediate theme. We are surrounded by forms of war, of conflict, of terror and terrorism. We feel this acute immediacy everywhere around us. And very close to us. The way in which theatre approaches the topic of war- be it in the antique Greek texts, in Shakespeare’s plays or in contemporary writing- is to be followed and analyzed.” What foreign performances will have their Romanian premieres at the festival?
I have invited two remarkable productions. I don’t want to give up on this international component that I added in 2005. It is good to be able to exercise comparison when looking at the Romanian theatrical movement.The War is a co-production of the the International Cekhov Festival in Moscow and the Edinburgh International Festival. It’s really disturbing to see. Front, a production from Hamburg, created by Luk Perceval, a strong name of the moment and an extraordinary personality. Both were invited because we are setting the war as the theme of this edition. Conflict, terrorism, violence. Tension is every where in the world we are trying to live in. I am struck by what happens in Ukraine, as well as in Irak, Transnistria, Syria, Egypt, by the Charlie Hebdo disaster. War has become so manifold. We are living through very hard, impure, almost apocalyptical times. We don’t understand each other; we can’t stand each other any more. The starting point in the invited performances is the end of WW1. Now we are 70 years away from the end of WW2. In any form of conflict, a member of the family goes to the front. Some sort of front. Heartwrenching separations. And death…
At the NTF press conference, together with Ion Caramitru
You maintain communication with the new generation…
Last year we had The Manifest of a Generation and our production of West Side Story. The year, it’s time for A Manifest for Dialogue, the performance Antisocial and the collaboration between two prestigious institutions: The National Theatre Festival and the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, both being under the High Patronage of the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis and both having the generous support of BRD Groupe Société- Générale.
Our project, centred on the performance Antisocial, created by director Bogdan Georgescu together with the graduates of the Acting Department in Sibiu, aims at modifying the Law of Education. It aims at establishing a healthy relationship between pupils, professors, parents, law, morale, achievement. The performances will be followed by public debates, to which we will invite politicians occupying high positions within the system, decision- makers, men and women of the 21st century who, hopefully, really do have this urge to change things. I don’t want to believe that everything is finished in my country.
August 21st, 2015