Theatre as a mirror

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Theatre is complicated because is about our everyday moods, emotions and fears

– so said Emmauel Demarcy-Mota, director of one of the stage in Paris during the press conference in Sibiu, Romania which I have attended.

If you follow my blog you know that last summer, I spent almost a month as a volunteer at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, the biggest theatre festival on the world.  Where I have been writing reports about volunteers work and I helped the artists to organise shows on the main square. During this time I met so many charismatic people from cultural field, but I wrote almost nothing about theatre. I wondered why?

The Boor

Then in the last days of this extraordinary event, Chinese actors from the Shanghai Theatre Academy passed over to me the answer, directly from the stage.

In “The Boor” by Anton Chekhov’s which was presented in classic Chinese opera style, I looked as if in the mirror. And unexpectedly  I saw that I am like Elena Ivanowna Popova, the main character of the play. She wanted to be loved and to love someone, but she has afraid to be honest with herself and she was beating around the bush.

I remember how I was laughing, when I saw my reflection while I was sitting in a plush chair in the “Gong Theatre”. Later, I carried this discovery through the sunny streets of the city, jumping, because I understood that I afraid to be honest with myself, too. It was important diagnosis.

I thought that theatre is such a good charmer, but maybe life is a magician – the roofs of Sibiu houses, which have eyes suggested this to me.

Photo by Shingo Yoshizawa

Time in Sibiu was multidimensional

Do you imagine that I had to learn what to choose for a breakfast, because local customs were different from those which I knew so far? I was always surrounded by people from the mysterious country which was Romania for me. And I have collaborated with Japanese, mostly.

Every day, challenges awaited me: writing in a foreign language, interviews with locals, being in various events in the same time, and even I was lighting the stage with portable lamp. Lots of perspectives around and so many worlds to discover only in myself.

Theatre made me to realise that: morning search for a coffee shop, shaggy giant dog on the corner, misunderstanding of the language, “salada de vinete”, Papanasi – Romanian paradise donuts eat before sunset, poem on the screen,  plan with Misaki, wild strawberries from the bazaar, unexpected wine in the kitchen,  monster on the main square, talk to me. You can explore:  who are you, who you want to be, and who you could be.

P.S. When I was writing this text I thought about Daria and Justa – my friends who love theatre so much.

photo by Shingo Yoshizawa

All photos by Shingo Yoshizawa. All rights reserved.

What have you expirenced the theatre?

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3 Comments Theatre as a mirror

  1. Alodia1949 29 January 2020 at 19:31

    można przejrzeć się w lustrze, kałuży, w cudzych oczach, można i w teatrze 🙂

    Reply
  2. Justa 2 February 2020 at 22:56

    Gosia, dziękuję, że pomyślałaś także o mnie, tak, teatr jest dla mnie bardzo ważny w życiu, dziękuję, że coś dla mnie odkrywasz, to piękne, przejrzeć się w teatrze.

    Reply

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