class="">Marius Manole: “My purpose in theatre is to enjoy it”

He is the only actor you’ll meet in no less than four shows within the National Theatre Festival: “Revizorul”, “Lecția de violoncel”, „Fă-mi loc!” and “Ivanov”. In the 2013-2014 theatrical season, Marius Manole played over 500 performances, but he now says that the main aim is to enjoy the shows and his free time ,which he spends with his puppy.

An interview by Judy Florescu

“Today’s interview is relevant for today only. Because I can change myself until tomorrow.” ,Marius said with the honesty that’s so well-known from the dozens of other interviews he’s given so far. He then tells the story of the god-directors (who he doesn’t particularly like) ,about the scripts that polace him in a good light (which he doesn’t care about) and about the truly important things in life (which you’ll find somewhere else, not at the theatre) .

What’s the first show with which you participated in the NTF?

It was called “Straight as an arrow” and it was directed by Radu Apostol. It was a show from the Maria Filotti Theatre in Braila. I remember it was played at the Small Theatre. I was so dreadfully nervous. I had come with my colleagues from Braila; it was our first national theatre festival. I even got sick, then and there, from all the nervousness. I had a 40* fever and that’s how I performed. I wasn’t really aware of what was going on at a national festival, because we used to show up, do our thing and then leave; which is still happening now and it’s really not alright.

What should a theatre festival offer?

A national theatre festival should offer to its participants the opportunity to stay and see the other shows. If you’ve come from Târgu-Mureș, Iași, Brăila, you should be able to see every other show in the festival, because you don’t have the time to during the theatrical season. I remember that during Marina Constantinescu’s first term, there were some killer parties. At least we had that( he laughs). They were very beneficial because we could finally get to know each other, us from the shows. All the troupes would meet up, from every city, and we’d talk about theatre, create collaborations, projects.

How was meeting the Bucharest audience, having played in the province for so long in the beginning?

Personally, the Bucharest audience scared me all the time. Now I realize the public in Bucharest is the most forgiving one there is. It’s very good, it doesn’t really penalize you. People here come to the theatre out of love, they want to like it, to enjoy what they see. This doesn’t mean it’s a less knowledgeable public, or any less elitist. It’s just that people truly want to enjoy theatre.

What was the provincial audience like?

In Iasi, where I come from, or in Braila, where I got hired for the first time, the audience was much more severe and much harsher. It was (now it’s no longer the case) also a bit more uneducated. I remember when we were playing “Straight as an arrow” in Braila, we had these guys who’d eat sunflower seeds in the first row…When I came to Bucharest, I stumbled upon a well-behaved, elegant audience, whose phones wouldn’t go off during the performance.

What changed in the NTF in the meanwhile.

From what I could gather, the shows in the past few years have begun to be held in much more diverse locations, not just theatres. For instance, this year they’re playing at the Baneasa Mall, at the “Ion Manu” Cultural Centre, the Godot Café Theatre, and this is a good thing. The National Theatre Festival should become a brand and take over the city, let there be a week of celebrating Theatre, like it is with the George Enescu Festival . Even though we don’t have the budget of the Enescu Festival, the NTF should be a holiday in Bucharest. It’s a good thing that we’ve immerged into other spaces, a thing that didn’t use to happen.

What of the festival’s structure?

It’s changed repeatedly. If, a few years ago, the festival was centred around the director, the directorial creation and the relationship between director and society, now the emphasis is placed much more on the actor ,on diversity. If before , only the loftiest of shows, and not necessarily the best, would be received, now it’s understood that theatre must be made for everyone and that one show should be selected from each category, so as to find out exactly where the Romanian Theatre movement is at present. Theatre also takes place in clubhouses ,bars, theatres, it also happens at Nicolae Bălcescu, at Godot. Theatre happens everywhere. I don’t see why these places should not be represented in the National Festival.

Theatre may be Shakespeare, it may also be street theatre. Theatre can be comedy, and also great tragedy. Theatre can be of any kind.

You perform a lot; what is the type of text or role which bests suit you?

I no longer care to be made to shine. I don’t believe that this is my purpose in life: for people to see me as well and as diversely as possible. My purpose in theatre is to enjoy it. I realized that ,in this moment, the most important thing is to enjoy the shows, to like the cast, to have fun, to enjoy being on-stage, to believe in what you’re doing. I no longer give any thought to things like: getting difficult roles, challenging myself, surpassing my past achievements. If any of these occurs, it’s all very well but, if they don’t… life goes on anyway (smile).

Have you reached saturation?

I did not, I just realized that the important things are somewhere other than within theatre. More important things are within life. To stay at home with my dog- for me, right now- is much more important than to show up and act.

How do you maintain a lengthy actor-director relationship?

Through great patience from the actor, great perseverance from the director, through good communication and through tolerance. We had to tolerate one another throughout all these years.

Is director the supreme ruler of what takes place on stage?

No, he isn’t. There was a time when I thought that was the way things were, but truth is he has no right. We’re the ones standing on stage, and until that changes that’s the way of things. We’re the ones shivering back-stage. It’s our blood that’s rushing. We’re the ones on the verge of heart attack. We die of strokes. Surely, to be a director is a very tough calling, you need to have a large perspective on things, to have an idea of how the show is supposed to be, to know what to do with those actors. I see to my part, he must take care of the whole show. Sometimes there are shows with 10-15 people and it’s very hard to harmonise them. But, in the meantime, the hardest job belongs to the actors.

Theatre without actors isn’t possible; without directors, however, it’s been proven to work. We made director-less shows and people still attended. Maybe they weren’t the grandest of shows, but rather than have a mad, half-witted director, it’s better to have none at all.

Still, what do you want from a director during rehearsals?

I wish for the director to ensure a creative atmosphere during rehearsals. Fear, terror and fright shouldn’t be the ones to dominate rehearsals. The director shouldn’t ever tell me I’m wrong ,because there’s nothing to get wrong in theatre. In theatre, there’s trying and missing ,but never failing. I wish for a director to be creative, to have ideas, to know the script well ,and know what his job is. I wish for a director that would challenge me to discover and to invent during working.

Work alongside the director should inspire. I don’t want an authoritarian director, a dictator to be afraid of when coming to rehearsals or when I’m playing, only to then notify me when I’m wrong.

Is it important to win a sort of independence from directorial indications?

Yes, but an interior one at that. I’ll never refuse a director, if I understand what he wants from me. I only say no when the situation requires it, where it needs to be said, I don’t have any bets to win. The actor-director relationship mustn’t be a one-on-one struggle, in which the strongest one wins and therefore makes the rules. The relationship must be a collaboration because the show belongs to both or, in the case of a team, to the entire team. More and more often, it happens that directors believe themselves to be little Gods on Earth. They think they know absolutely everything and maybe they do, but that doesn’t mean anything to me. They think that if it weren’t for them to teach us how to walk, we wouldn’t know. We do know how to walk ,since –thank goodness!- we’ve walked without them before and we didn’t break anything. I look ,bewildered and intrigues, at how they sit there in the grand hall and imagine themselves all-knowing ,imagine that without them, theatre can’t be.

In the 2013-2014 theatrical season you’ve played in over 500 performances. Do you ponder on surpassing this number?

No, I have no desire to do that. I will have to continue to play ,very much so, because I can’t stop the shows. It doesn’t bother me to play a lot as long as I don’t rehearse anything and won’t be rehearsing for a long period of time. And then, in the evenings, I can play 2-3 performances, having had the entire day free. Even if I brought out more shows, I wouldn’t have the time to act in them. I have no time left in my schedule. We’re already performing from 10 PM to 12 AM because of me.

In the end, is it a necessity or an opportunity to act so much?

For me, it was a necessity as well as an opportunity. It gave me great pleasure to play so much and it also helped me. It made me more well-known to the audience than I was and it helped me gain experience. To act in 500 performances in one theatre session… (he laughs) This year I don’t know how many there will be.

What matters to you, when you’re on-stage?

The most important thing to me right now is to enjoy myself, because I can’t stay for an hour and forty minutes on-stage and feel like hell, I could die or get a heart attack.

How do you feel about people worrying about your health?

I also worry about my health. They must think it very difficult. I thank them for worrying about me. That’s why I stopped rehearsing, in order not to bring out another show. I’ll still act, but it’s one thing to have free time everyday until 6 PM and another to wake up at 8 AM, rush your dog through the park, run from rehearsal to rehearsal, then rush to perform 3 shows. It’ll be great not to have rehearsals in the mornings.

You’ll get on with your life then. Life comes before work.

I always thought about it the other way around.

Alas, in the public eye, you’re only your profession.

But this is also very well. That’s how it should be. It’s good that I can be someone else and that someone can like me as someone else. This is the profession. It’s probable that, somewhere, there was an unfulfilled need, that’s why I chose this job. Instinct drove me to acting precisely because I wanted to be someone else, not myself. Instinct is brighter than we are and, if it felt the need to be in this department ( and in 36 years’ time I haven’t ever wanted to switch jobs), it must have been quite good.

What does it mean for you to make a good performance?

It’s when I’m enjoying myself, and not just pretending to be there. I don’t struggle to be the character, I actually am that character.

Do you lose yourself completely?

Not completely, but everything I do is born in that moment, without thinking about what I have to do next, or how the public might react. I simply do and I don’t think about how. You’re aware every second that you’re an actor playing a part, it’s just that some nights you’re more empathic, more open and you receive the energy better, and then there’s some nights in which you just don’t feel like it. How about you, when you don’t feel like doing an interview , what do you do?

I consider an interview to be a necessity; I don’t think how much you think of it, having done dozens…

The thing about interviews is I don’t have any thoughts on the matter. I give these interviews out of respect for you, for your wanting to do this job. It’s a need of yours which I help fulfil. You know what the trouble is with interviews? What people don’t get is that, if I give an interview now and I say these things to you, tomorrow you could ask me the same questions and I’d reply differently. If you could show this live, right now, that would be great, because now is the time. ‘Till evening comes, we don’t know what might happen.

Photo: Elena Simion