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Tag: sibiu international theatre festival

June 26, 2023

Pensions. In Bucharest, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have gathered in joint session to vote on the bill regarding the elimination of parliamentarians special pensions. The bill repeals the right to the allowance for age limit that deputies and senators benefit from according to previous provisions. The initiators of the document, representatives of the Social Democratic Party, which is part of the governing coalition, say that all legal requirements have been observed and it is an act of morality for senators and deputies to give up these revenues. The Association of former parliamentarians has announced, however, that it will challenge the bill in court, as it includes provisions similar to those of another law drawn up by the Social Democrats, declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. By the end of the week, the last of the current session, a vote is also expected on the governments bill on reforming service pensions.

Budget. The budget correction could take place in August, the Romanian Minister of Finance, Marcel Boloş, has announced. He stated that, in this way, all the measures announced by the Bucharest Government will be able to enter into force on September 1. Regarding the impact these measures will have on the state budget, the minister said that an exact calculation has not yet been made. “This week will be dedicated to the analysis on the expenditure side and we will communicate the budgetary impact of these measures. The more measures of this kind we have, the better we can manage the issue of state budget allocations” Boloş pointed out. He also said that the elimination of parliamentarians special pensions and banning the aggregation of pensions and salaries will bring significant savings to the Romanian budget.

Foreign Affairs. The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu, is participating, today, in the meeting of the EU ministers of foreign affairs, which is taking place in Luxembourg. The heads of European diplomacy will discuss the situation in Ukraine, with an emphasis on recent developments, the situation on the ground and increasing support for that country. The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmitro Kuleba, will participate in the discussions via video conference. Minister Luminiţa Odobescu will emphasize the need to continue supporting Ukraine as long as it is necessary. At the meeting, the High Representative Josep Borrell, will address, among other things, the latest support measures for the Republic of Moldova, adopted at the level of the European Union.

Baccalaureate. In Romania, more than 130,000 high school graduates are taking the first test of the Baccalaureate today, the one in Romanian language and literature. Tomorrow they will be sitting the mandatory test of the profile, and on Wednesday the optional test of the profile and specialization. On Thursday, students who belong to national minorities will take another test, the one on Mother Language and Literature. This week will be announced the first results of the national assessment for students who graduated from the eighth grade. Due to the general strike in education, registrations for the National Assessment and Baccalaureate were extended until June 16.

Festival. The International Theater Festival continues in Sibiu (central Romania). One of the most anticipated plays in todays program is “Father”, with the famous Romanian actor Victor Rebengiuc (90 years old) in the leading role. Many of the events in the program are street events, and access is free. Visitors are welcome to enjoy theatre, music, dance and circus performances. “Romeo and Juliet” is also part of todays program, this time under the direction of the Russian Andriy Zholdak, who also signed the stage design, music, lights, video and script. Also Shakespeare, but “Macbeth/ A marriage made in hell” will be performed by band Tiyatro BeReZe from Turkey. Another production based on a classic text, ” A forced marriage” by Moliere, comes from the Ion Luca Caragiale National Satiricus Theatre, from the Republic of Moldova. The Juan Carlos Avecilla Flamenco Dance Company (Spain) participates in the festival with “Flamenco Fusion”, a show that concentrates the essence of the Spanish dance tradition. More after the news.

Swimming. Romanian swimmer David Popovici, a double world and European champion, won, on Sunday, the 200 m freestyle event of the 59th edition of the Sette Colli Trophy competition at Foro Italico (Rome), with a new competition record. On Saturday, Popovici also won the 100 m freestyle race, also with a competition record. This was the last check for the Swimming World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan (July 13-30), where Romania will be represented by David Popovici and Andrei-Mircea Anghel.

Weather. In Romania, the thermal regime today will be characterized by normal values, with highs ranging between 24 and 31 degrees Celsius. The weather continues to be unsettled locally in the south, south-west and in the mountains. The floods formed as a result of the heavy rains on Sunday caused significant damage and resulted in the death of one person. Most of the country is still under flood warnings. An orange code is active for rivers in the center, west, south, most of the east and southeast, and until tonight, at midnight, a yellow flood code is issued for most regions of the country. (MI)

26 June 2023
June 23, 2023

Food. The large chain stores in Romania have agreed, in the framework of the dialogue started with the Government, that they could voluntarily reduce the shelf prices of 10 basic food categories. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, but the discussions will continue. In order for the reduction to become a reality, either a voluntary agreement of the sellers or an emergency ordinance is being considered, but in both cases, the prime minister assures that the Executive does not want to put pressure on Romanian producers.

Pensions. The draft law on the abolition of the special pensions of Romanian deputies and senators received, on Thursday, a favorable report in the Committee on the status of parliamentarians. Parliamentary plenum debates on the bill will most likely start on Monday. Former Social Democratic MP Eugen Nicolicea, currently president of the Association of Former Parliamentarians, believes that the law has zero chance of passing the Constitutional Court, like other similar proposals. The president of the Committee on the status of parliamentarians, the Social Democratic deputy Eugen Bejenariu, says, however, that if elements of unconstitutionality are identified, other solutions will be found to reduce or eliminate special pensions. From the opposition, the Save Romania Union strongly supports the elimination of these pensions, as well as all other special pensions paid from the State budget that some professional categories enjoy.

Gas. The private company OMV Petrom and the national company Romgaz have announced that they will jointly invest 4 billion euros in the Neptun Deep gas field exploitation project, the largest in the Romanian area of the Black Sea. Thanks to this project, Romania would become the largest producer of natural gas in the European Union and secure its energy independence, said Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. According to him, the Neptun Deep project is the result of a good collaboration between state institutions and the private sector and will make Romania a long-term, predictable and substantial supplier of energy security.

Ukraine. Romania and the Republic of Moldova condemned the statements of the governor installed by Russia in the occupied Kherson region in southern Ukraine, who threatened that the Russian army could attack a bridge over the Prut River, in response to an alleged Ukrainian attack on one of the bridges connecting the continent and the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea annexed by Moscow. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest has termed as unacceptable such statements addressed to the Republic of Moldova, but which also refer to a part of the territory of Romania, a member of NATO. Chisinau has summoned the Russian ambassador to the Republic of Moldova for explanations and is discussing the possibility of reducing the embassy staff to a presence that would ensure parity with the Moldovan diplomatic staff in Moscow. According to Chisinau, the measure will be taken because of the Russian authorities interference in the countrys internal affairs.

Immigrants. 43 foreign citizens were caught, this morning, while trying to leave Romania illegally, through the western border. They were hidden in a TIR truck driven by a Romanian, which was transporting parcels on the Romania-Hungary route. Verifications showed that the people hidden among the goods are from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. The foreigners are being investigated for attempted fraudulent crossing of the state border, and the TIR driver for migrant trafficking.

Theatre. As of today, the city of Sibiu, in central Romania, is hosting the International Theater Festival. The theme chosen for this 30th edition is “Miracle”. The largest annual meeting of the performing arts proposes an agenda with over 800 indoor and outdoor events – theater in any form, dance, circus and music – in which around 5,000 artists and guests from 75 countries will participate. All outdoor performances are free. The festival has also kept the online section. There are 40 shows included in this category, which can be enjoyed by those who cannot make it to Sibiu. The official opening will take place with the show “A cathedral full of organs” from the “Saint Mary” Evangelical Cathedral in Sibiu. The International Theater Festival will end on July 2.

Football. Romania takes on, on Saturday, in Bucharest, the team of Ukraine, in Group B of the European Under-21 Football Championship, which it hosts together with Georgia. In the same group, Spain will play against Croatia. In the debut matches, the Under-21 national team was beaten 3-0 by Spain, and Ukraine beat Croatia 2-0. The final tournament takes place between June 21 and July 8 and brings together 16 teams, divided into four groups. Two are hosted by Romania, in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca (north-west), and two by Georgia. In Romania, two quarter-finals and a semifinal will take place. The top three finishers qualify for next years Olympic Games in Paris. (MI)

23 June 2023
August 23, 2021

COVID-19 -
Romania remains in the green scenario in terms of the number of infections,
which is going up. On Monday, 415 new infections were reported, in addition to
13 related fatalities. 193 people are currently in intensive care. At national
level, the vaccination rate remains low. Over 5 million people in Romania have
completed the full vaccination scheme.

CRIMEA – The
Crimea Platform is today being launched in Kiev, a Ukrainian initiative aimed
at drawing more global attention to Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean
Peninsula and returning the territory to Ukraine. A total of 44 countries and
international organizations, including 14 heads of state and government and EU
leaders have confirmed their presence at the Crimea Platform summit. Kiev officials
say the militarization of the peninsula and Moscow’s aggressive policy in the
area are affecting all countries in the Black Sea region. Romania is
represented by Prime Minister Florin Cîţu and Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu.
The Prime Minister will also give a speech and attend the ceremony marking the
official launch of the Platform. On the sidelines of the event, Minister Aurescu
will meet Volodymyr Zelensky and will also hold talks with his Ukrainian
counterpart, Denis Shmyhal. Florin Cîţu and Bogdan Aurescu will also visit the headquarters
of the Crimea Platform and attend the launch of the Permanent Executive Agency,
which will be enacting the summit’s decisions.

AUGUST 23 -
President Klaus Iohannis today conveyed a message marking Black Ribbon Day,
also known as the Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all
totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. The president said the infamous
Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, signed on August 23, 1939, marked the beginning of
Europe’s tragedy, a milestone that paved the way for a string of deadly abuses,
tearing apart territories by dividing Central and Eastern Europe into spheres
of influence. The so-called non-aggression pact shattered the hopes and ideals
of European nations, triggering the Second World War, with devastating
consequences for mankind, the president’s message reads. Klaus Iohannis also
referred to King Michael I’s act of courage, on August 23, 1944, when he broke
ties with Nazi Germany, supported by the Romanian Army. Let us keep in mind the
lesson of that great moment of political prowess as a symbol of vertical
thinking, unity and morality, the president said. The European Parliament in
2008 designated August 23 as a Europe-wide day of Remembrance for the victims
of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. In 2011, the Romanian Parliament
designated August 23 the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Fascism and
Communism.

US-ROMANIA RELATIONS – Defense Minister Nicolae Ciucă and the head of general staff, General Daniel Petrescu, on Sunday met with a delegation of the US Congress, discussing security in the Black Sea region and major investment projects aimed at consolidating military infrastructure in Romania. The US delegation was led by Senator Richard Shelby, the head of the US Senate Committee on Appropriations. According to a Defense Ministry release, talks focused on hot topics on the security and defense agenda and elements pertaining to US-Romanian cooperation, at bilateral level as well as at NATO level. Minister Nicolae Ciucă said the American military presence on Romanian soil is evidence of the USA’s firm commitment to ensuring security and stability, reiterating the importance of consolidating this presence.

FESTIVAL -
27 events are scheduled today on the sidelines of the International Theatre
Festival in Sibiu. The Play Stock Exchange opens its doors today in Sibiu,
titled Outdoor performing arts: purpose and relevance at local, national and
international level. Over 100 performances and events have brought together
thousands of spectators from across the world during the first three days of
the festival. Performances were held on outdoor stages, as well as online. The
28th edition of the Festival runs until August 29 under the slogan
Building hope together. Over 2,000 artists from 38 countries will be
attending the festival, the biggest such event in Romania and one of the most
important of its kind in Europe. (VP)

23 August 2021
June 14 – 21

Coronavirus
and Relaxation

More than 23
thousand cases of coronavirus infection and 1,500 deaths is the toll of the
Covid-19 pandemic in Romania so far. President Klaus Iohannis has voiced
worries over the increase in the number of new cases in the past days and
called again on the population to observe sanitation rules, describing them as simple,
commonsensical and extremely important: wearing a protective face mask, social
distancing and hand hygiene.

After two months of state of emergency and one of
state of alert, the Government has decided to extend the latter, as of June
17th, for another 30 days, but against the background of further relaxation
measures. Therefore, fitness centers have reopened, just like shops in malls. Indoor
cinemas and playgrounds though remain closed. Also, religious masses inside the
church are now allowed. Private indoor events must not gather more than 20
participants, and the outdoor ones 50. Betting and gambling facilities have
also reopened. The list of countries where flights from and to Romania are
allowed will be updated on a weekly basis.

A Special Pension Story

A recurrent theme in public debates in Romania, the
taxation of the so called ‘special pensions’, which does not observe the contributive
principle, has grabbed the headlines again. Parliament has decided to tax the
difference between the special pension, benefiting also senators and deputies,
and the one obtained through contributions paid, periodically, to the pension fund,
during one’s active life. The difference from 2,000 lei, which is the equivalent
of some 400 Euro, up to the amount of 7,000 lei shall be taxed as before, by
10%, and for the amounts exceeding 7,000 lei, the tax will be 85%.

According to
data provided by the Public Pension House, the number of people receiving special
public service pensions stood at 9,500 at the end of last month. Out of them,
some 4,100 are benefiting from the provisions of the law on the status of prosecutors
and judges, and one of them gets the highest pension in Romania: 19,000 Lei, which
is approximately 3,900 Euro. Also receiving special pensions are some 150,000
former employees of the public order and national safety services.

Quite promptly, the High Court of Cassation and Justice
and the Ombudsman notified the Constitutional Court about the taxation of
special pensions in Romania. The supreme court criticizes the fact that
successive rulings on the matter have been ignored, that the Superior Council
of Magistracy has not been consulted and that the principles of fair taxation
and judges’ independence have been violated. Notified by the same institutions
last month, the Constitutional Court of Romania rejected a bill meant to
abrogate special pensions. Pundits are expecting a similar outcome, given that
six out of the nine Constitutional Court judges are beneficiaries of special
pensions, and some of them actually cumulate several such pensions.

Evaluation in the Time of Pandemic

Shut since March, when on-line classes started being
held in Romania because of the pandemic, schools have reopened this week for
the so called ‘National Evaluation’, which is a prerequisite for enrollment
into high school in Romania. The exams have been taken by some 160,000
graduates of secondary schools.

Because of the pandemic, special measures were
taken this week. Healthcare
personnel checked children’s temperature and every school was equipped with
decontamination mats, protective face masks and biocide substances to use on
floors, doorknobs, desks and chairs. Children were not allowed to bring any
bags or backpacks into the examination rooms and were seated 2 m from each
other during the exam. The students who are self-isolating, quarantined,
hospitalized, and those who had a temperature above 37.3 degrees Celsius on the
exam day and those suffering from conditions that may be worsened by the novel
coronavirus will take the exams in a special session between June 22 and July 4.

Sibiu International Theatre Festival Online

The Sibiu International Theatre Festival has been held
online this week, which is a first for the reputed festival. This year’s theme
is ‘The Power of Believing’. The agenda of the festival includes 138 events,
from 30 countries on 5 continents, presented on the official website of the
festival: www.sibfest.ro, and also on
Facebook and YouTube. Adding to that are 12 special conferences. According to
the organizers, the Sibiu Festival, the biggest theatre festival in Central and
Eastern Europe, has offered its audience 250 hours of theatrical performance,
dance, music, circus, conferences, debates, reading-shows and children’s
performances, all free of charge.

Whims of the Weather

Recently, all of Romania has been under a yellow code
for storms and meteorologists have successively issued red and orange codes, as
well as immediate warnings for torrential rain and hail storms. Hydrologists
have also issued codes yellow and orange on rivers, targeting river basins all
over the country. County and national roads have been blocked by alluvium
caused by heavy rainfall and trees blown by strong winds. Many villages were
left without electricity after electricity poles were knocked to the ground by
storms or fallen trees. In some areas, hail has also severely affected crops,
orchards in particular. It took the intervention of firefighters to remove the
flooded households and to clear some cars and electric cables from the road. (M.Ignatescu)

20 June 2020
June 15, 2019 UPDATE

MOLDOVA – President
Klaus Iohannis has hailed the latest developments in neighboring Moldova that
should contribute to overcoming the deadlock and help a peaceful power
transition. On Friday Presidential advisor on matters of foreign policy, Bogdan
Aurescu, talked to Moldovan Parliament Speaker Zinaida Greceanii and to leaders
of the ACUM parliamentary bloc, Maia Sandu and Andrei Nastase. Foreign Minister
Teodor Melescanu in turn met his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin and
discussed the peaceful transition of power in Moldova. On Friday, the
Democratic Party in the Republic of Moldova announced that Prime Minister Pavel
Filip resigned. Filip stated that the Democratic Party will keep on working for
the Republic of Moldova, but from a different position. A power duality was set
up in Moldova last week. Last Saturday, the pro-Russia Socialist Party forged
an alliance with the ACUM block and set up a new government, headed by Maia
Sandu. The second day, at the request of the Democratic Party, which until then
had been negotiating with the Socialists the formation of a majority alliance,
the Constitutional Court decided to temporarily suspend Igor Dodon from the
office of president, and the acting PM Pavel Filip was appointed interim
president.

EXERCISE – The Saber
Guardian 2019 military exercise continues in Romania until June 24. Its main
goal is to enhance the cohesion, unity and solidarity of the partner and allied
countries, with a view to ensuring defense against any type of aggression,
especially by means of rapid mobilization and response, anywhere in Europe. In
order to render international military training more effective, Saber Guardian
is correlated with a number of other national and multinational exercises, so
the total number of participants stands at some 13,500. Attending are 14 allied
and partner countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany,
Great Britain, the Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the US. 7,600 of the participants are
Romanian. Saber Guardian was held every year between 2013 – 2017, and was
hosted, in rotation, by Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine. The exercise is included
in the United States Army Europe and designed to improve the integration of
multinational allied and partner combat forces.

ECOFIN – During
its presidency of the Council of the EU, Romania has completed 11 out of the 13
files on the capital markets union, said on Friday the Romanian Finance Minister
Eugen Teodorovici. He chaired in Luxembourg the last meeting of the Economic
and Financial Affairs Council held during the Romanian presidency. During
Romania’s term, six ECOFIN meetings were held, as well as 66 trialogue meetings
with the European Parliament, during which 15 legislative files were closed,
and also 174 working group meetings. The Romanian Presidency has been a
test for the public administration, which has proven it can face any challenge,
at the highest level, said Eugen Teodorovici at the end of the meeting in
Luxembourg.

PENTECOST – Sunday,
50 days after Easter, Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians around the
world, including in Romania, will be celebrating the Pentecost, the descent of
the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the birth of the first Christian
community. The holiday is also known as White Sunday. On this day the 12 apostles
were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in languages they had not
known before. On Pentecost, following Apostle Peter’s address, 3,000 people
were baptized, coming together into the first Christian community, which was
the core of the future Christian Church. Some 23,000 police officers,
firefighters, gendarmes and border police officers are deployed all across the
country to ensure all related public events unfold safely.

THEATER – The 26th
Sibiu International Theater Festival continued on Saturday and will be
unfolding until June 23. One of this year’s special guests, French Ambassador
to Bucharest Michele Ramis, attended a conference on the Romania-France culture
season and the inauguration of a digital platform. This year’s theme is ‘The
Art of Giving’. The festival includes 540 events in 75 locations, with 3,300
artists and guests from 73 countries invited. According to the organizers, the
festival is a celebration of beauty, with events in theater, dance, music,
film, book launches, circus, and art exhibitions. The Sibiu International
Theater Festival is the most complex event of its kind in Romania and even
Europe, and Radio Romania is one of the co-producers.

FOOTBALL – 12
teams, including Romania, are as of Sunday taking part in the European Under-21
Football Championship hosted by Italy and San Marino. Romania is part of Group
C, alongside England, France and Croatia. On Sunday, Poland will play Belgium
while Italy will take on Spain. Romania’s first match will be on Tuesday
against Croatia. This is the second time Romania takes part in the European
Championship, after the 1998 edition. The teams in top position in each group
will advance to the semi-finals, together with the team with the best stats in
second position from all groups. The final will take place on June 30.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

15 June 2019
June 15, 2019

MOLDOVA – President
Klaus Iohannis has hailed the latest developments in neighboring Moldova that
should contribute to overcoming the deadlock and help a peaceful power
transition. On Friday Presidential advisor on matters of foreign policy, Bogdan
Aurescu, talked to Moldovan Parliament Speaker Zinaida Greceanii and to leaders
of the ACUM parliamentary bloc, Maia Sandu and Andrei Nastase. Foreign Minister
Teodor Melescanu in turn met his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin and
discussed the peaceful transition of power in Moldova. On Friday, the
Democratic Party in the Republic of Moldova announced that Prime Minister Pavel
Filip resigned. Filip stated that the Democratic Party will keep on working for
the Republic of Moldova, but from a different position. A power duality was set
up in Moldova last week. Last Saturday, the pro-Russia Socialist Party forged
an alliance with the ACUM block and set up a new government, headed by Maia
Sandu. The second day, at the request of the Democratic Party, which until then
had been negotiating with the Socialists the formation of a majority alliance,
the Constitutional Court decided to temporarily suspend Igor Dodon from the
office of president, and the acting PM Pavel Filip was appointed interim president.

EXERCISE – The Saber
Guardian 2019 military exercise continues in Romania until June 24. Its main
goal is to enhance the cohesion, unity and solidarity of the partner and allied
countries, with a view to ensuring defense against any type of aggression, especially
by means of rapid mobilization and response, anywhere in Europe. In order to
render international military training more effective, Saber Guardian is
correlated with a number of other national and multinational exercises, so the
total number of participants stands at some 13,500. Attending are 14 allied and
partner countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Great
Britain, the Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the US. 7,600 of the participants are Romanian.
Saber Guardian was held every year between 2013 – 2017, and was hosted, in
rotation, by Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine. The exercise is included in the
United States Army Europe and designed to improve the integration of multinational
allied and partner combat forces.

ECOFIN – During
its presidency of the Council of the EU, Romania has completed 11 out of the 13
files on the capital markets union, said on Friday the Romanian Finance
Minister Eugen Teodorovici. He chaired in Luxembourg the last meeting of the
Economic and Financial Affairs Council held during the Romanian presidency.
During Romania’s term, six ECOFIN meetings were held, as well as 66 trialogue
meetings with the European Parliament, during which 15 legislative files were closed,
and also 174 working group meetings. The Romanian Presidency has been a
test for the public administration, which has proven it can face any challenge,
at the highest level, said Eugen Teodorovici at the end of the meeting in
Luxembourg.

PENTECOST – Sunday,
50 days after Easter, Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians around the
world, including in Romania, will be celebrating the Pentecost, the descent of
the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the birth of the first Christian
community. The holiday is also known as White Sunday. On this day the 12 apostles
were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in languages they had not
known before. On Pentecost, following Apostle Peter’s address, 3,000 people
were baptized, coming together into the first Christian community, which was
the core of the future Christian Church. Some 23,000 police officers,
firefighters, gendarmes and border police officers are deployed all across the
country to ensure all related public events unfold safely.

THEATER – The 26th
Sibiu International Theater Festival continued on Saturday and will be
unfolding until June 23. One of this year’s special guests, French Ambassador
to Bucharest Michele Ramis, attended a conference on the Romania-France culture
season and the inauguration of a digital platform. This year’s theme is ‘The
Art of Giving’. The festival includes 540 events in 75 locations, with 3,300
artists and guests from 73 countries invited. According to the organizers, the
festival is a celebration of beauty, with events in theater, dance, music,
film, book launches, circus, and art exhibitions. The Sibiu International
Theater Festival is the most complex event of its kind in Romania and even
Europe, and Radio Romania is one of the co-producers.

TOURISM – Foreign
tourists to Romania spent some 275 million euros in the first quarter of this
year, by 35 million euros more than the same period of last year, the National
Statistics Institute reports. Data shows that a foreign tourist spent on
average 630 euros during his stay in Romania, compared to 500 euros last year.
Statistics also reveal that over January-March, some 443,000 tourists visited
Romania, with conferences, classes, fairs and exhibitions being the main reason
of visit for 60% of them, whose spending account for 64% of the aforementioned
sum.

(Translated by V.
Palcu)

15 June 2019
Romanian Diaspora Artists at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival

The festival is also the birth place of quite a few large-scale projects. At FITS, for instance, you can find out the latest from and see the works of the Romanian artists in the diaspora. Alexandra Badea, Eugen Jebeleanu and Cosmin Chivu, who have been living and working in France or the US, were present at the 25th edition of FITS, with performances featuring the actors of the Radu Stanca National Theatre in Sibiu.

Young stage director Eugen Jebeleanu has been living in France for eight years, but is currently working both in France and in Romania. In Sibiu, Eugen Jebeleanu stage-directed his first show in a state theatre, Gong Theatre, three years ago. Then he worked with the Radu Stanca National Theatre:

“I think I have never lost my connection with Romania. I left in 2010 for acting classes, and then I returned to Romania. I began staging performances in independent theatres, then I went back to France, I took my Master’s degree in directing, and travelled back to Romania… This movement between the two places has been constant, I’ve always worked in both countries. And what I want, at least for my own company and the people who work with it, is to develop a more concrete dialogue in this respect.”

Usually, Eugen Jebeleanu directs his own texts, or the texts of his partner, Yann Verburgh. But at the 2018 edition of FITS, Jebeleanu came with his stage version of Arthur Miller’s “View from the Bridge”, a Radu Stanca Theatre production. With details on that, here is Eugen Jebeleanu himself.

“I was taken aback by this play precisely because, although it is inspired by a true story from the 1950s, it has great resonance with what is going on today. I didn’t mean my play to be a manifesto, what I meant was to look at the condition of the man who is leaving, at how he experiences his departure to a place where he doesn’t belong, at how he relates to integration or disintegration. And also at the diaspora community, and the hierarchies within that community, which in turn is part of another, greater community… I was interested in how we end up doing unfair and mean things only in order to defend our own square-metre of territory, in how we turn into monsters just to wield power over the others, to control something or somebody.”

Playwright and stage-director Alexandra Badea has been living and working in France. Recently she has been offered collaboration with the Théâtre National de la Colline in Paris, whose director is the very well-known playwright and stage-director Wajdi Mouawad. Jointly with the “Radu Stanca” National Theatre actors, in Sibiu Alexandra Badea staged a show titled “Present perfect”, included in the programme of FITS. Alexandra Badea:

“I have come to Romania after eight years without any contact with Romanian theatre whatsoever. I was suggested a project with the theatre in Sibiu, Eugen told me that this theatre takes its plays on national tours, and that’s what persuaded me to come. I wrote the text for the actors in Sibiu. It is part of a trilogy I am currently developing at the Théâtre national de la Colline in Paris. In France, I work on what we could call the hidden stories, the untold stories, the events in recent history which have been overlooked a little bit. “Past perfect” is the story of a family retracing half a century of Romanian history, from 1941 in Iasi, to this day, covering the pogrom in Iasi in 1941, and the communism of the 1970s, where some people were informers while the others had to face the consequences. And, above all, it is a text I believe speaks about the young today, who to me seem to be maybe a lot more lucid and much more prepared to look at things differently and to take responsibility for the present in a different manner.”

For Cosmin Chivu this was the 7th consecutive year at FITS. A resident of New York since 2000, when he got his Master’s in stage directing at the famous Actors Studio School, Cosmin Chivu has staged more than 60 shows in professional theatres and universities in the US, Europe, Australia and Thailand. At present, Chivu is the director of the acting and directing department with the Pace School of Performing Arts in New York. At the FITS anniversary edition, Cosmin Chivu brought the musical “The Rocky Horror Show,” a co-production of the “Radu Stanca” National Theatre and the “Lucian Blaga” University in Sibiu, and a Romanian-French production, “Human States”.

“This year I directed a show entitled “Human states,” a music and poetry performance, presented twice at the Saint John Evangelical Church. And also this year I brought back “The Rocky Horror Show”. “Human States” started out from music, a music of the soul, with few words, a genre that is not very popular in Romania. It is a story where we witness what happens to us from the moment we are born until we die, with all our pleasures, joys and suffering. I also contributed to the Performance Stock Exchange. For three days running, theatre companies and performing art personalities from around the world came to Sibiu to present their work, to find partners and create projects and relations for the future. I moderated such exchange sessions. Companies from all five continents came, I believe. Participation this year was unprecedented.”

What prompts Cosmin Chivu to return to Sibiu year after year is the spirit of the festival:

“It started off from a very generous idea and from a small group of people that thought out an event bringing together creative minds and young artists who wished to share their work experiences with one another. That was in 1992-1993, and I took part in the first editions of the festival while still a student in Iasi. Now it has grown into a world-level event. And being able to witness this journey and to contrast what things were like back then what they are like now, and the effort these people put into it over the years, that is absolutely sensational.”

(Translated by E. Nasta)

30 June 2018
The Sibiu International Theater Festival has come to an end

The 25th edition of the Sibiu International Theater Festival has just ended. For ten days, around 3.300 artists from 73 countries offered spectators more than 500 performances. The programme was extremely varied and included the most representative productions of leading Romanian theatre companies, important international productions and street and outdoor performances held every day in the city’s squares, in the old town and the mediaeval Saxon fortified churches and fortresses near Sibiu. The festival featured performances from all over the world, from countries like Italy, Japan, Spain, Russia, the UK, India and many others. On the sidelines of the event, exhibitions were opened, some of them European premieres, and also cultural workshops and a book fair.

The Festival’s founder and president, actor Constantin Chiriac, has voiced satisfaction at how this year’s edition unfolded: “ The Sibiu International Theater Festival has ended. Driven by our love for theatre, we’ve been trying, for the past 25 years, to turn an insignificant festival into one of the biggest in the world. You’ve seen how many theatre companies and personalities have come to Sibiu. They have all impressed the audience, as promised. Thank you for sharing with us this great joy. We’re waiting for you to return next year!”

The specialist press says the festival was the engine for Sibiu’s earning the title of European Capital of Culture in 2007, the year when Romania joined the European Union. Thanks to the Sibiu Performing Arts Market created by the Festival, the Radu Stanca National Theatre in Sibiu was present at some of the most important theatre festival in the world, such as Edinburgh, Avignon, Brussels, Seoul, Tokyo, Porto and Frankfurt.

The Sibiu International Theatre Festival is a strategic objective of the Romanian Culture Ministry, which, together with the local administration, provides most of the funding for this event. The festival is also supported by the European Commission, foreign cultural centres and embassies in Romania, international networks and private sponsors, all of whom contribute to the festival’s 13-million dollar budget. This year, the festival has two honorary patrons, the Romanian president and former mayor of Sibiu Klaus Iohannis and Charles, Prince of Wales, whose passion for Transylvania is well-known. The UK is proud of your achievement and of its modest contribution to your impressive journey, Prince Charles said in a message read by Paul Brummell, the British Ambassador to Bucharest.

18 June 2018
June 10, 2018 UPDATE

PROTEST – A fresh anti-government protest was organized in Bucharest on Sunday evening. Under the slogan “The Country is on fire! Light for democracy, the civic organizations which initiated the rally want to express their disagreement with the policies pursued by the ruling coalition in such domains as justice, the environment and the economy. The protest is staged just a day after the Social Democrats and Liberals-Democrats on Saturday organized the biggest rally since taking over power, a year and a half ago. The over 100,000 participants protested against what they called abuses and the infringement of the principles of the rule of law. They denounced the existence of an illegitimate and underground structure, which they generically deem as “the parallel state and which allegedly influences the state institutions and decision-making in the justice field. On Friday, the High Court of Cassation and Justice postponed issuing a verdict, for a third time, in a lawsuit in which the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, is accused of corruption offences. The anti-corruption prosecutors called on the court to issue a seven year and five month jail sentence for abuse of office on Dragneas name, in addition to two years and six months for forgery. In 2016, Dragnea got a final, suspended two year sentence, for attempted rigging.

JUSTICE – A delegation of the Venice Commission pays a two-day visit to Romania as of Monday, for consultations on the modifications brought to the justice laws. The delegation is due to have talks with President Klaus Iohannis, with other officials at the Romanian Parliament, the Justice Ministry, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the Constitutional Court, the Prosecutor Generals Office, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the Superior Council of Magistracy, associations of judges and prosecutors and civil society organisations. Both President Iohannis and the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) have requested the opinion of this consultative body, made up of independent experts on constitutional law, on the laws on judicial organisation, the functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy and the status of judges and prosecutors. The requests were made amidst accusations launched by the right-of-centre opposition, civic organisations and part of a press, according to whom by modifying these laws, the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania is allegedly trying to halt the fight against corruption and to subordinate magistrates.

ADMINISTRATIVE CODE – The Romanian Senate will debate on Monday the draft Administrative Code, after it has been debated and adopted by the relevant parliamentary committee. The Senate is the first notified chamber in this case. The document regulates the organisation and functioning of authorities and institutions in the public administration: the government, ministries, prefects offices, county councils, city halls, defines the status of those working in these institutions and sets the guidelines for decentralisation and local autonomy.

HALEP – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis has congratulated the Romanian tennis player Simona Halep on her victory at the Roland Garros tennis tournament. In a message posted on a social network, the head of state has underlined that Haleps first Grand Slam trophy in her career comes at the end of a final in which she fought for every ball, without giving up any moment. In turn, PM Viorica Dăncilă has praised, in a message, the way in which Halep fought on court, saying her performance was a further confirmation that she deserved the trophy. Both the Romanian and international press has hailed Simona Haleps win in Paris. The no.1 WTA tennis player defeated the American Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Her success at Roland Garros comes 45 years since Romanian Ilie Năstase won the tournament hosted by the French capital city for the second time in a row and 40 years since her current manager, Virginia Ruzici, won the French Open.

SINGAPORE – The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, has arrived in Singapore, ahead of a historic summit with the US President, Donald Trump. In turn, the White House leader comes from Quebec, where he attended the G7 summit. The Kim-Trump Summit scheduled for Tuesday morning will be a first meeting between the Kim dynasty heir and an acting US President. The discussions which are likely to produce uncertain, unclear results, will be aimed at reaching an agreement on North Koreas complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation, in exchange for an easing of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

CANOEING – Romanians Leonid Carp and Victor Mihalachi on Sunday won gold in the 500m double canoe race, at the European Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. On Saturday they grabbed a silver medal in the 1,000 m double canoe race. Romanian Mihaela Lulea also got silver in the 200m paracanoe race.

THEATRE FESTIVAL – The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, one of the largest festivals of its kind in the world continues in Sibiu, central Romania. Sundays highlights included 50 events organised not only in halls but also in unconventional places: theatre and dance shows, contemporary circus, concerts, exhibitions, theatre workshops and street parades. We recall that over 3,300 artists from 73 countries are participating in the 25th edition of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, which runs until next Sunday.

10 June 2018
June 10, 2018

HALEP – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis has congratulated the Romanian tennis player Simona Halep on her victory at the Roland Garros tennis tournament. In a message posted on a social network, the head of state has underlined that Haleps first Grand Slam trophy in her career comes at the end of a final in which she fought for every ball, without giving up any moment. In turn, PM Viorica Dăncilă has praised, in a message, the way in which Halep fought on court, saying her performance was a further confirmation that she deserved the trophy. Both the Romanian and international press has hailed Simona Haleps win in Paris. The no.1 WTA tennis player defeated the American Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Her success at Roland Garros comes 45 years since Romanian Ilie Năstase won the tournament hosted by the French capital city for the second time in a row and 40 years since her current manager, Virginia Ruzici, won the French Open.

JUSTICE – A delegation of the Venice Commission pays a two-day visit to Romania as of Monday, for consultations on the modifications brought to the justice laws. The delegation is due to have talks with President Klaus Iohannis, with other officials at the Romanian Parliament, the Justice Ministry, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the Constitutional Court, the Prosecutor Generals Office, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the Superior Council of Magistracy, associations of judges and prosecutors and civil society organisations. Both President Iohannis and the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) have requested the opinion of this consultative body, made up of independent experts on constitutional law, on the laws on judicial organisation, the functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy and the status of judges and prosecutors. The requests were made amidst accusations launched by the right-of-centre opposition, civic organisations and part of a press, according to whom by modifying these laws, the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania is allegedly trying to halt the fight against corruption and to subordinate magistrates.

RALLY – Over 100,000 Romanians coming from all across the country on Saturday took part in a rally in Victory Square in Bucharest, organised by the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania. They protested against what the Social Democrats and their junior partners in the ruling coalition called abuses and the infringement of the principles of the rule of law. They denounced what they called the existence of a illegitimate and underground structure, which they generically deem as “the parallel state which influence the state institutions and decision-making in the justice field. The Liberals, in the parliamentary opposition, claim the rally was a deeply undemocratic action to intimidate magistrates, civil servants and the public sector employees who do not listen to political command or journalists who are critical of the Social Democratic Party.

ADMINISTRATIVE CODE – The Romanian Senate will debate on Monday the draft Administrative Code, after it has been debated and adopted by the relevant parliamentary committee. The Senate is the first notified chamber in this case. The document regulates the organisation and functioning of authorities and institutions in the public administration: the government, ministries, prefects offices, county councils, city halls, defines the status of those working in these institutions and sets the guidelines for decentralisation and local autonomy.

SINGAPORE – The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, has arrived in Singapore, ahead of a historic summit with the US President, Donald Trump. In turn, the White House leader comes from Quebec, where he attended the G7 summit. The Kim-Trump Summit scheduled for Tuesday morning will be a first meeting between the Kim dynasty heir and an acting US President. The discussions which are likely to produce uncertain, unclear results, will be aimed at reaching an agreement on North Koreas complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation, in exchange for an easing of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

THEATRE FESTIVAL – The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, one of the largest festivals of its kind in the world continues in Sibiu, central Romania. Sundays highlights include 50 events organised not only in halls but also in unconventional places: theatre and dance shows, contemporary circus, concerts, exhibitions, theatre workshops and street parades. We recall that over 3,300 artists from 73 countries are participating in the 25th edition of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, which runs until next Sunday.

10 June 2018
June 8, 2018 UPDATE

B9 FORMAT- On Friday in Warsaw, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda participated in the meeting of the Bucharest 9 Format, which includes NATO members from central and Eastern Europe. The participants adopted a joint declaration, about which the Romanian President said it reflects common evaluations and objectives focusing on strengthening Euro-Atlantic security. He also stated that NATOs eastern flank must be further consolidated. Also, the Romanian head of state has said that earmarking 2% of the GDP for defence and investing in modernizing the military capability are investments in a countrys own security and Romania has fulfilled its commitment to ensuring that. In turn, the Polish President Andrzej Duda has stated that the joint declaration will help the decision-making process at the NATO summit due in Brussels next month.

CORRUPTION – The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest has postponed for June 21st its ruling in the case in which the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and leader of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea is accused of acts of corruption. Its the second time that the court postpones its verdict. The reason invoked was that part of the defendants in this case filed some written conclusions on June 7th, and the judges need time to study them. Last month, prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate requested a sentence of 7 years and 5 months in prison for abuse of office and 2 years and 6 months for forgery. They say that Liviu Dragnea, during his term as president of the Teleorman County Council, ordered the fictitious employment of two Social Democratic party members by the Directorate for Social Work and Child Protection. The two were paid from public money although they allegedly worked exclusively for the Social Democratic Party. Dragnea claims he is innocent and has denied prosecutors accusations. In 2016 Dragnea received a 2-year suspended prison sentence for attempted electoral fraud.

DEFENCE – The very good cooperation in the field of defence, with focus on the British military contribution in Romania, was high on the agenda of the talks held in Brussels on Friday between the Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor and the British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson. The Romania – Great Britain bilateral meeting was held on the second day of the NATO Defence Ministers summit, at the general headquarters of the Alliance, reads a communiqué issued by the Romanian Defence Ministry. Minister Fifor appreciated Great Britains active participation in air-policing missions and also its constant presence in the Black Sea, thus proving its commitment to NATOs deterrence and defence posture in the region. In turn, the British secretary of defence stressed that the fact that Romania is a regional stability factor and has a substantial contribution to maintaining security in the Black Sea and Western Balkans regions.

CEREMONY – General Nicolae Ciuca, the Chief of Staff of the Romanian Army, will attend on Saturday the ceremony occasioned by the anniversary of the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, at the invitation of Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart William Peach, according to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Defence Ministry. This is recognition of the good cooperation between the two armies and an opportunity to promote at military level the interests of the Romanian Army in the relation with the British Army, one of its most important allies, the communiqué also reads.

G7 – At the opening of the G7 summit hosted by Canada, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk blamed the US President Donald Trump for defying world order, France Presse reports. On Friday, the first day of the two-day summit, Donald Trump urged G7 to reintegrate Russia, which was expelled from the format in 2014, after annexing the Crimean Peninsula. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated that she expects difficult discussions at the summit, between Washington and its partners, especially with regard to international trade, climate protection, development and external policies.

FESTIVAL- Almost 13 million Euros is the budget of this years edition of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, which started on Friday. Until June 17, the audience will have the opportunity to watch some 524 performances. The 25th edition of the festival has brought to Sibiu 3,300 artists from 73 countries. This is the first year when the festival has two honorary patrons: the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, a former mayor of Sibiu, and Prince Charles, the Heir to the British Crown, who is famous for his passion for the region of Transylvania, in central Romania.

TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no.1 in the WTA rankings and first-seed at the Roland Garros, will play in the final against the American Sloane Stephens, no.10 in the WTA classification. In the semifinals, Halep defeated the Spanish Garbine Muguruza, number three in the world, and winner in Paris in 2016, while Sloane Stephens defeated her co-national Madison Keys (no.13 WTA). This is the third Roland Garros final for Simona Halep, after the ones in 2014 and 2017, which she did not manage to win.

8 June 2018
9 June, 2017 UPDATE

UPDATE: Romanian President Klaus Iohannis meets U.S. President Donald
Trump at the White House

U.S. President, Donald Trump, on
Friday appreciated the example set by Romania among the NATO member states to
increase defense spending from 1.4% to over 2% of the GDP. During a joint press
conference given together with President Klaus Iohannis, after a top-level
meeting at the White House, Donald Trump thanked the Romanian people for their
contribution to U.S. defense and in the fight against terrorism. Together we can confront the common
security challenges facing the world.

He explicitly expressed NATO
Treaty’s Article 5 commitment that an attack on one member country will be
treated as an attack on all. Donald Trump didn’t formally endorse Article 5
commitment at the first NATO Summit he attended, in Brussels in May.

President Trump has also said U.S. strongly supports Romania and the country’s fight against corruption. Referring to investment, he said: We have people going over to Romania
and investing… That shows very, very big progress.

In his turn, President Iohannis has
said the Strategic Partnership shaped
Romania as it is today. Romania, a solid democracy, underlining the
partnership has to become stronger. He has also said it’s
vital for U.S. to have a strong European Union as a partner, adding
that NATO and EU must work together, so that they, as well as U.S., can become
stronger.

When asked about the visa waiver, President Trump said he and President Iohannis didn’t discuss the issue.
President Iohannis has said they will discuss it because many Romanians come to
the U.S. and it’s an important issue.

EXPO ASTANA 2017. Romania will
take part in Astana EXPO 2017 international exposition titled The Energy of the
Future, which opens on Saturday in Kazakhstan’s capital. More than 110
countries are taking part. The central element of the Romanian pavilion will be
the ELI-NP laser project in Magurele, which is seen as the most important
investment in Romanian research in the last 50 years. Romania will present
itself at the exposition in Astana as a country of innovation and inventions.
After 1989, Romania has taken part in all world and international expositions
held under the aegis of the Bureau of International Expositions. EXPO Astana is
open until the 10th of September.

Croatia visit. The Romanian
prime minister Sorin Grindeanu travels to Zagreb on Monday for talks with
Croatia’s president Kolinda Grabar, prime minister Andrej Plenkovic and the
Parliament speaker Gordan Jandrokovic. Talks will focus on bilateral and
European issues, including the future of the European Union. Romania and
Croatia both support the need for cohesion and solidarity within the Union. The
two countries also plan to work together to join the Schengen area. An
agreement will be signed during prime minister Grindeanu’s visit on the mutual
protection of classified information, as well as a memorandum of understanding
on the cooperation between their respective Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Government order. The Romanian
government on Friday issued an emergency order to amend the fiscal procedure
code to the effect that multinational companies will have to provide reports on
their incomes, profits and taxes in the state where they have their fiscal
residence. According to the government’s spokeswoman Alina Petrescu, the
amendment seeks to translate a European directive into the national
legislation. Multinational companies will also have to report the number of
employees, their declared capital, undistributed profits and fixed assets in
each fiscal jurisdiction. The new order seeks to combat tax evasion and
aggressive tax planning, on the one hand, and make the activities of these
companies more transparent, on the other.

EU. The Deputy Secretary General of the European Commission Jean-Eric Paquet on
Friday held talks in Romania with the local authorities on community law and
the accurate and timely harmonisation with the EU legislation. Jean-Eric Paquet
also discussed the future of Europe with Romanian students and representatives
of civil society, the academic community and the media.

Republic of Moldova. The
Parliament in Chisinau held on new vote on Friday on a protocol to amend a
military cooperation agreement between the governments of Romania and the
Republic of Moldova. The document, which was previously passed by Parliament,
has been rejected by the Moldova’s pro-Russian president Igor Dodon, who views
it as unconstitutional on account of violating his country’s neutrality status.
Signed in April 2012, the agreement also provides for the possibility of carrying
joint military exercises. Igor Dodon has already been opposed on a number of
times to the participation of the Moldovan military in multi-national military
exercises carried out in Romania.

Roland Garros. Romania’s
highest-ranked player and world no. 4 Simona Halep on Saturday faces Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko (world no.
47) in the final of
the Roland Garros tennis tournament. In the semi-finals on Thursday evening,
Halep defeated world no. 3 Karolina
Pliskova of the Czech Republic in three sets. This is
Halep’s second Roland Garros final, having lost her first to Maria Sharapova in
2014. If she wins, Halep becomes world no. 1.

Football. The Romanian football
side face Poland on Saturday in Warsaw in a Group E match as part of the
qualifiers for the World Cup hosted by Russia next year. In other group
fixtures, Kazakhstan face Denmark and Montenegro face Armenia. Poland currently
top the group with 13 points followed by Montenegro and Denmark, each with 8
points, Romania and Armenia, each with 6 points and Kazakhstan with 2 points.
Romania have a foreign manager for the first time in their history, namely the
German coach Cristoph Daum, who took over last autumn after Romania’s mediocre
run at the European Championships in France.

Sibiu festival. The 24th
edition of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival got under way on Friday.
The French company Remue Menage opened the
festival with their production Abysses held outdoors in the city’s historic
centre. The Sibiu Book Festival also began on Friday, lasting four days. The
indoor events began with a staging of Eugene Ionesco’s Bald Soprano by another
French company. The biggest of its kind in Romania and one of the biggest in
the world, the Sibiu International Theatre Festival will see around 500 different
performances and events for the next ten days, bringing together 3,300
participants from 72 countries. The theme of this year’s edition is love.

9 June 2017
The Sibiu International Theatre Festival

The festival brought together 2,500 artists and representatives of cultural institutions from 70 countries and featured 381 different events, including theatre and dance performances, music concerts, exhibitions, book launches and lectures held in conventional as well as unconventional settings.

Theatre director Radu Afrim, who in the coming weeks will be staging two performances at Sibiu’s Radu Stanca National Theatre, participated in the festival with a solo photo exhibition, a stage performance and a performance as part of the festival’s Music Performances section. His photo exhibition comprises snapshots of everyday life and portraits of actors. Here is what Radu Afrim told us about his exhibition in Sibiu, which was hosted by the Thalia Hall and benefited from the involvement of set designer Dragos Buhagiar:

”The photographs are nudes and half-nudes of actors I met through my work, people I spend time with between rehearsals and outside the theatre. The photographs were taken during our walks in the forest, the trips to the Great Island of Braila and on the banks of River Olt, or some other location. They have nothing to do with our theatre work. It is so easy to take pictures of actors. You don’t have to work that hard to get them to relax. Actors live in a world of their own and I hope I managed to show this in my photos. I have worked with young, well-known actors and I wanted to make them even more popular.”

The guest performance in this year’s edition of the festival, Andrew Bovell’s “When the Rain Stops” was first staged by Radu Afrim at the Toma Caragiu Theatre in Ploiesti. About the show, Afrim says it is a much more settled and mature performance based on a modern tragedy, to which the director has lent a slow, almost hypnotic rhythm. Featuring in the festival’s Musical Performances section, Afrim’s Hai Iu Iu Nu Hey You You (Maria Tănase remix) was born during the Young Actor’s Gala held in Costinesti last September and is the outcome of a creative workshop entitled ”Maria Tănase: 1913-2013”, run by the musician Vlaicu Golcea. Radu Afrim explains:

“I am very fond of this Maria Tanase remix project. It is a non-commercial experiment that involves young drama school graduates. The performance, which is full of humour, has a certain a narrative thread, a story, up to a point. It also consists of cabaret-type scenes featuring young male actors. This performance cannot be classified easily, as it neither a musical, nor a concert. It is not a staged performance, it has no props, all I wanted to do is bring people together. In this sense it is a modern performance, because Maria Tanase herself was urban. To show this, we have used a photograph of Maria Tanase in which she looks like a Hollywood star.”

One special moment in the festival, and a first in Romania, was the opening of a photography exhibition called “Oidip”, by Mihaela Marin”, which previewed Silviu Purcarete’s performance by the same name premiered a few days after the exhibition. Here is theatre critic Octavian Saiu:

“I would like to thank Mihaela Marin for introducing us to the universe of this performance, which we can only glimpse at in her photographs. I haven’t seen the Silviu Purcarete’s performance yet, but I am convinced there will be scenes in Oidip which I will be unable to separate from what Mihaela chose to share in this exhibition. There are photos here that capture a certain nuance, a certain state of a scene, at the same time offering the image of an entire show. I believe that any gesture made by Mihaela Marin falls into an area of cultural memory and theatre memory that is extremely important. One of the emblematic images of last year’s festival in Edinburgh, which sparked national pride in me, was a photo of a Hamlet show staged by the Wooster Group Theater from the US, a photo also taken by Mihaela Marin.”

One of the important books launched at the 21st edition of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival was “New Practices in Stage Arts in Eastern Europe”, edited by Iulia Popovici. According to Iulia Popovici, this is the first book covering Central and Eastern Europe published in this part of Europe. It comprises 10 essays, 10 interviews and a text about Ukraine written by theatre critic Viktor Sobiiansky:

“The main purpose of this book, which I hope is its main merit, is that of creating a concrete context for theatre everywhere. You feel it resonating with what happens in surrounding countries and in our country too. For instance, of all our neighbours, we are the only ones who have a theatre of real issues, a strong documentary theatre. In Bulgaria they only made the first attempts this year. In Hungary they have a documentary show staged three years ago. In Ukraine there is an effervescence related to the recent protests, which has generated reality theatre, but not much else. Poland and Slovakia have reality theatre too. What brings us closer is this tense relation with production, with the system of financing and with the dynamics between new and traditional, in the context of performance art with strong public financing in all these areas.”

The Sibiu festival barely finished when organisers announced the next edition will be held between 12th and 21st June 2015. The schedule of events will be published next year. “We are preparing a mature edition, with the promise of the most complex festival of performance arts ever held in this country. Sibiu is a European city, a city who knows how to preserve its beauty, and that makes us proud’, said Constantin Chiriac, the director of the Sibiu Festival.

2 August 2014