ABSTRACT

A History of Romanian Theatre from Communism to Capitalism analyses the last three decades of Romanian theatre and connects it to the international stage.

Cristina Modreanu questions the relationship between artists and power, both before 1989, behind the Iron Curtain, and in the current global political context, with nationalism manifesting itself in Eastern Europe, as seen in the critical work of Romanian theatre makers. This study covers the complex cases of theatre makers such as Lucian Pintilie, Liviu Ciulei and Andrei Șerban, who built their international careers in exile, and the most innovative Romanian artists of today, such as Silviu Purcărete, Mihai Măniuţiu, Gianina Cărbunariu, Radu Afrim, and Bogdan Georgescu, who reached the status of transglobal artists.

Filling a considerable gap in Romanian theatre discourse, this book will be of a great interest to students and scholars of contemporary theatre and history.

chapter |6 pages

Red past

An introduction

chapter 1|19 pages

The old road rapidly ageing

Changes in Romania’s theatre before and after 1989

chapter 2|10 pages

Andrei Șerban

Prophet without a country

chapter 4|10 pages

Mihai Măniuţiu

The trial of communism on stage

chapter 5|8 pages

The alternative path

Radu Afrim, a queer look at life

chapter 6|15 pages

Elements of ethics and aesthetics in new Romanian theatre

From Gianina Cărbunariu to David Schwartz and Bogdan Georgescu

chapter 8|8 pages

Attempts at participatory art or cracks in the pedestal of the statue

Alexandru Berceanu, Cinty Ionescu, Peter Kerek

chapter 9|15 pages

Feminist theatre on Romanian stages

Tools for reimagining twenty-first-century theatre: Catinca Drăgănescu, Ioana Păun, Carmen Lidia Vidu

chapter 10|33 pages

Mapping contemporary Romania

Thirty years of new drama

chapter |11 pages

Epilogue

Thirty years after Romanian theatre from communism to post-capitalism