Gypsies... with Popescu

This book was ordered for me. The request was uttered imperatively by a group of beings less capable of understanding:

- a poet, whose words I say every evening with the same emotion because they form in space a path between life and death - Cristian Popescu

- a prodigal son, gone from nowhere to nowhere in the (futile hope) search for his own identity - Alexander Hausvater

- an alchemist of sounds that escape the mind, to redeem our heart and soul - Adrian Enescu

- a group of zurbags of life and night, ruthless masters of fnatsms and illusions, desperately wrapped in the cloak of their own loneliness - the actors

It is to them that this book belongs, which they forced me to write.

THE SHOW

"La Țigănci" is not the result of a chance occurrence, even a lucky one. The project is closely linked to a program conceived and finalized by the then management of the Odeon Theatre made up of Alexandru Dabija and Florin Zamfirescu. The director Alexander Hausvater, author of the show " ... they put handcuffs on the flowers", which was a courageous artistic act, and a proposal full of novelties in terms of directorial creation, together with the troupe of actors who succeeded in responding with grace to this project with total willingness, were the other two arguments for this success.

In my opinion, the period 1991 - 1994 marked the Odeon Theatre's establishment at the top of the artistic movement in Romania. It was in fact a radical change in the artistic offer that the theatre was putting forward to the public and specialists. I think it could not have been otherwise. The institution had changed its name, which recalled its belonging to a neighbourhood (Giulești), for a name (Odeon) that defined some prestigious institutions in Europe. I don't believe in theories that say that everything starts or ends overnight. In art especially there is continuity and for capable artists a continuous need for novelty and exploration. The essential thing, however, is that the target proposed by the management is of the highest level and quality that goes beyond ordinary performance. A phenomenon occurred in the Odeon Theatre that saved the artistic collective from unnecessary trauma. Nearly all the actors were hard at work on well-thought-out projects. Alongside the experienced actors of the theatre who always wanted to have a special artistic experience (Florin Zamfirescu, Adriana Trandafir, Gelu Nițu, Mircea Constantinescu, Constantin Cojocaru), the young generation (Camelia Maxim, Marius Stănescu, Laurențiu Lazăr, Diana Gheorghian, Oana Ștefănescu, Carmen Tănase, Ionel Mihăilescu, Dan Bădărău) were brought in. Actors from other theatres who wanted to join the Odeon team and the repertory proposals were immediately welcomed into the collective (Marcel Iureș, Șerban Ionescu, Radu Amzulescu, Dragoș Pâslaru). They worked together and avoided false pride. They have thus come out at short intervals, astonishing the audience by the quality of their performances and the novelty of the artistic means used: "The Liar" by C. Goldoni with Horațiu Mălăele in the title role, directed by Vlad Mugur, "... they handcuffed the flowers" by F. Arrabal, directed by A. Hausvater, "Richard III" by W. Shakespeare, directed by Mihai Maniutiu, "La Țigănci" after Mircea Eliade, directed by Alexander Hausvater. In addition to the original directorial visions presenting more or less known subjects to the audience, these productions, which constituted the artistic programme of the directing team, proposed to the collective new and exciting performance formulas and an unparalleled mobility of energies. The group of actors who produced the four 'event' performances had the privilege of working with three directors: Vlad Mugur, Alexander Hausvater, Mihai Măniuțiu, at the peak of their artistic careers. On the other hand, almost everything around us, but outside the theatre, had been desperately consumed. Artists were involved in the social and political events after December 1989. The street demonstrations, the rallies, the University Square, the marches, were all calls for dialogue, balance and truth. The actors experienced them emotionally and their presence was further proof of the need for freedom that they have always represented through the artistic act. The lack of communication, the violence, the refusal to answer the questions asked, the presence of the same figures at the top of power produced a deep sense of disappointment and disgust. The masquerade of the power struggle and the blocking of the truth convinced the actors to turn even more stubbornly to their temporarily abandoned tools. The world of the stage, of fantasies, proved in many cases to be more dramatic, more authentic, than the mess of vanity that the reality of those days generously offered. The state of grace was gone. Its place was quickly taken by professional opportunists. Returning to the theatre remained her only hope.

Mugur Arvunescu