 One
of the greatest Romanian actress. During the communist regime,
she was banned to perform on the "National Theatre of
Bucharest" Fifi Michailovici
My
beloved and most treasured Aunt The Romanian drama and theatre were, historically, rather late to appear, but then they evolved rapidly and steadily. Until the 19th century the theatrical performances were in the form of entertainment shows performed at the princely courts or boyards mansions and of popular theatre; the latter still exists, especially in special forms staged on the occasion of Christmas and the New Year. The first performance in Romanian, a school show, took place at
Blaj, in Transylvania, in 1755. It was also in that town that for the first time a text was specially written for stage in 1780. The official birth date of the Romanian theatre was 27 December 1816, when writer Gheorghe Asachi (1788-1869) organized in Iasi the first Romanian performance based on a drama by Florian. In 1817 the first theatres were opened in Romania. One of them the Theatre of Cismeaua Rosie, in Bucharest, was built upon the initiative of Princess Ralu, daughter of ruling Prince Caragea. By mid-century, the Romanian societys interest in theatre made it possible to have an almost continuous presence of foreign troupes in the two capitals, Iasi and Bucharest. Drama schools were founded by the Philharmonic Society in Bucharest (1833) and by the Philharmonic and Drama Conservatoire in Iasi (1836) and state-run schools for theatre education were also set up (1864). The first independent theatre troupes appeared in 1852. Since the establishment of the National Theatres in Bucharest and Iasi to our times, the Romanian theatre has been subsidized by the state, which helped both the playwrights and the actors. The first notable playwright was Vasile Alecsandri (1821-1890), a trail-blazer in theatre (dramas, comedies) and all fields of literature. The best known character of his comedies, Madame
Chirita, a provincial hankering to enter the high society, has had a durable and successful career. At the end of the 19th century, the great and unique Romanian playwright Ion Luca Caragiale (A Lost Letter , 1884, is the masterpiece of his writings and of Romanian drama), and a number of great actors brought brilliance to the Romanian theatre. Paul Gusty (1859-1944), who was a stage director with the National Theatre in Bucharest for almost six decades, was practically the one to start the Romanian stage directing, at the very beginning of the 20th century. The bulk of literature for the stage was enriched with remarkable names such as Barbu Stefanescu Delavrancea (1858-1918), author of an historical trilogy about Moldavia during the reign of Stephen the Great. Psychological dramas were too written, and social issues were approached too. Outstanding names of dramatists in the inter-war period were Camil
Petrescu, Lucian Blaga and Mihail Sebastian. In the 30s and 40s a great number of private theatre companies were set up, some of which had a successful activity until 1949, when private theatres were disbanded. Stage directors like Soare Z.
Soare, Ion Sava, G.M. Zamfirescu, Sica Alexandrescu, alongside great actors as were for instance Zaharia
Barsan, Marioara Voiculescu, Lucia Sturdza Bulandra, Tony
Bulandra, Elvira Popesco, Fifi
Michailovici. Iancu Brezeanu raised the Romanian theatre to high standards of professionalism and modernization, introduced new experiments in the interpretation of the naturalistic, expressionist and symbolist types of theatre. During the communist regime, a number of stage directors made a name for themselves: Livid Ciulei, Lucian Giurchescu, Radu Penciulescu, Lucian Pintilie, Andrei Serban, David Esrig, Ion Cojar and others. Some of them emigrated in the later decades of communism and are notable names in international theatre. After 1989, the Romanian theatre continued to win acclaim on various stages of the world thanks to its exceptional actors and the original stage directors like Silviu Purcarete, Catalina Buzoianu, Tompa Gabor and Mihai Maniutiu. A new generation of playwrights has been emerging these years. The number of theatre rose from 14-16, on the eve of the Second World War, to 45-50 in the 70s and 80s and 52 in 1996. The number of spectators fluctuated. From 1.5 million in 1938, it increased to 6-7 million in the 80s and dropped to 1 million in the last few years. The audience currently frowns in number. |
