class="">CEHOV – PURCĂRETE (Movie Screening: Workshop)

“A place which represents a symbol in our history, but also in my biography. In what follows, I will try to name some of my moods, feelings, pursuits, and encounters. I felt as if living my youth again. As if living again the times when I used to be right beside or keep close to Silviu Purcărete at work. I felt as if setting free from the coffee grounds that people have systematically thrown in the bottom of my personal kettle; as if my mind cleaned out the derision, intuition moved freely, just like energy or like curiosity for the word, for each nuance in the text that had been chosen, Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters. I felt as if, guided by Silviu Purcărete, we all set under a magnifying glass each detail, each direction, each entering, each exiting, each subtext, each topic, issue, question or unease. That is his way with preparing each performance, which was not our case, though. The first interval is a laboratory. A pursuit. A reciprocal discovery, an act of liberation and the acknowledgement of going on together.

He always inserts in his performances some improvisation exercises, the actors’ discovery, which he polishes, he observes, he dissolves in himself, taking the adventure beyond any intuition. Flexible, substantial, unobtrusive, humble, never needing to prove his “power”. I discovered once again Purcărete’s immense joy of being with lively, smart actors, who follow him in an attempt to understand him, not because they ought to. Constraint was non-existent. From anybody.

I followed the actors and their director with respect and affection. I floated on the veil of the brides from one universe into another, and my instincts sharpened, I chased away all fatigue and dust, disappointment and sadness, I got to understand Natasha and especially Vershinin. I witnessed, once again, Purcărete creating visible worlds. In a simple manner. Out of nothing, one would say. I saw the space on the stage brought to life by various items which are brought to life once they are set in a different context, thus gaining meaning. Silviu Purcărete is just as generous and modest. Just as curious to discover the actors and their interests, to listen to questions, to try giving answers. Tactfully, masterfully creating the intimacy of a small community. He has kept his voluptuousness in flying dreams out in the sky inside ourselves, like a real kite flown in the endless sky.

 I am on the stage of the Casino in Sinaia. In the astounding silence, through a crack in the curtains I can hear the fire rumble.” (Marina Constantinescu)

Concept and direction: Alexandru Condurache, Diana Iabrașu