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2013 ArtsLink Fellow Iulia Popovici Curates Series of Essays on Romanian Theater with Host Site HowlRound

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1 PopoviciRomanian Theater Series
December 2013
HowlRound.com 

Romanian theater critic and curator Iulia Popovici was placed at host site HowlRound, a theater commons non-profit in Boston, for her 2013 ArtsLink Residency. HowlRound uses online platforms and in-person gatherings to promotes access, participation, collaboration, research and new teaching practices in theater. Popovici focuses on framing performances in a larger social and political context and making Romanian work more accessible to international audiences. During her five-week residency, she engaged with HowlRound’s community, and the wider community of Boston’s theater scene, in rich discussions of sustainability, artistic risk, funding, criticism and craft.

Popovici continued the discussions started in Boston by curating a week-long series of essays addressing issues in contemporary Romanian theatre on HowlRound’s website. The essays, written by various theater professionals in Romania (as well as one by a British critic), address current trends in theatre production and contextualize the artistic and political climate in Romania for a western audience. Along with curating the series, Popovici herself contributed a thought-provoking essay titled “I am not exotic-I am exhausted,” taken from an exhibition title by Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi (ArtsLink Fellow 1995). Her essay looks at the challenges of talking about Romanian theater on an international scale, and the need to contextualize and represent the history, economics and class issues of her country in the process. She writes:

“It’s as valid to ask, “Is all new theater in Romania about communism?” as it is to ask, “Is all new theater in United States about capitalism?” The answer is pretty much the same in both cases: “Yes, from a certain point of view.” The problem is in the phrasing of the question. Would any American theater maker deny, in good faith, that, let’s say, Angels in America is, indeed, a play about capitalism? And so our cultures meet—Romanian theater speaking to a society where communism (whatever that means, exactly) is part of a contemporary identity, and an American theater infused with the experiences of racial segregation, decades of civil rights movements, a sexual revolution, and the subprime mortgage crisis.”

 

The essays offer a rare look into the Romanian theatre scene: highlighting the work and processes of contemporary innovators (including an interview with 2007 ArtsLink Fellow Gianina Cărbunariu) and exploring the best practices and challenges of theater managers (for a thorough overview on how theatre is produced in Romania read Ioana Tamas’ piece Theater management in Romania – A Mandatory Professionalization).

The series, now completed, will stay online as a resource  in the Essays, Practice, and Opinions  section on HowlRound’s website.

 


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