Those who flirt with the idea of pursuing a career in theater, but not only them, are invited to the Theater Faculty of the “George Enescu” National University of Arts in Iasi, to the Open Doors Week event. Experience could be compelling.
Ioana Soreanu entered the rehearsal rooms and brings arguments in favor of this experience.
The Faculty of Theater within the “George Enescu” National University of Arts in Iași has opened its doors, until Sunday, for those who want to know what the study in this field consists of. The public is invited to participate in rehearsals, workshops and colloquiums supported by teachers, students, masters and PhD students from Acting, Puppets/Marionettes, Directing, Choreography and Theatrology. Students’ and master’s students’ performances are scheduled daily at the University’s Sudio Hall.
Yesterday I entered Room 51, from the second floor, of the building of the University of Arts in Iași. The actor Doru Aftanasiu was surrounded by students from the final year, the third year. One by one, each student presented a monologue. With a lot of patience, attention to details and with an obvious pleasure to work with the young artists, Doru Aftanasiu gave directions, exemplified, justifying every gesture and inflection of the voice.
Univ. Assoc. Dr. Doru Aftanasiu is preparing to part with one generation of student actors and take over another, in the fall:
Doru Aftanasiu: First of all, I look forward to them and welcome them with the promise that I will do my work with them. I mean, I never joked about it, although I like it to be fun in classes, to do theater for pleasure, I mean “you do theater for pleasure or not at all”. I have also had results in all these years, I have something to be proud of, I have former graduates who are my colleagues, some of whom have also received awards.
Ioana Soreanu: What about young graduates? Because a generation is graduating from acting this year.
Doru Aftanasiu: I’m super happy with what they’ve done so far. For example, a performance: if the production show is usually worked on in the last semester of the terminal year, they pulled this show off in record time. “The Lesson” by Eugen Ionescu. And difficult text, and in a fine direction, Ovidiu Ivan, he is very talented, he is a good professional. We still argue so that we can reconcile and understand each other. Ovidiu really did a superb job with them. And now, no, they finish. For a good man, there will always be a place. I have two more months with them and my mission is over. Theirs is just beginning. I remember my father, God forgive him, he once felt a student, on a flight, he felt that he was afraid to take off on a simple command, a glider. And there you ask him: “do you want to go alone?” He said yes, you have to ask him, but he felt that he was afraid, and I remember him and now how he leaned over the cabin like that, he said to himself, “Hey kid, you wanted wings. Well, you have them. Go fly them now!” That’s what I tell them: “You have wings, you have to use them!”
The young people are aware that they are completing an important stage in their lives and are preparing to explore further, armed with the skills they have acquired and developed at the Faculty of Theater in Iasi. We asked Elena Bologan, Sebastian Ilașcu, Anastasia Toderișen and Diana Furnică what plans they have and how they describe the experience of their college years:
Elena Bologan: It’s a bit nostalgic, I wish it would continue somehow. It was a pretty… pretty good experience with… well, good and bad, as usually happens in any college, I guess. You have to be aware that the faculty is one and after that anyway….
Ioana Soreanu: …. it depends on you.
Elena Bologan: Yes, yes, yes, exactly, exactly, exactly. And you develop yourself anyway, after.
Ioana Soreanu: Do you think it was the right decision to go to the theater?
Sebastian Ilascu: I don’t know, I’m thinking about it. I’m not really sure what to do next.
Ioana Soreanu: Theater or something else, do you want to change field?
Sebastian Ilascu: I’m not really sure about the theater, because if it’s going to be further, I’d like it to be very committed, not a trial.
Ioana Soreanu: Do you think that this experience helped you regardless of the choices you will make further?
Sebastian Ilascu: Yes, I think it helped me, at least on a personal level. Before, I was from another area, I did plastic arts where… there, the artist is with him. Here, it’s the artist with the audience, the artist with the director (laughs), with the scenographer. And I think that on this side, with the people, it helped me more….
Ioana Soreanu: …communication
Sebastian Ilascu: … yes, communication of all kinds (laughs).
Ioana Soreanu: Same question, was coming to the theater the right decision?
Anastasia Toderisen: Yes, it was a good decision, even if I would like to focus more on film than theater. I have the Stanislavski base that will help me there, and there, and I will have a choice.
Ioana Soreanu: What will you do next?
Diana the Ant: I look to the future with hope, in the sense that I will try to give more castings in various theaters to get into as many projects as possible. I want to continue with the theater. I think no matter how hard you work as an actor, you also need a bit of luck. One stage ends and another will clearly begin in my professional career. I think I’ve evolved quite a bit.
(Radio Iasi)
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 Actor Doru Aftanasiu: You do theater for pleasure or not at all!){kind=link}