There are 4 days left until the premiere of “Waste Side Story” on the stage of the Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca. The organizers released the trailer of the show.
The life of the people from Pata Rât was translated into a unique show, which will premiere on the stage of the Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca on Friday, May 10.
“Waste Side Story” brings to the attention of the public both the problems and the dreams of the more than 2,000 isolated souls in the most publicized Roma community in Romania, using as documentary sources even the testimonies of the inhabitants.
The latest articles on Cluj24
Thus, the libretto of the opera, signed by the actress and screenwriter Mara Căruțașu, was born through the organization of some workshops within the community, for the purpose of which a 36 square meter container was bought, where discussions took place with the residents of Pata-Rât .
The music for the show was composed by two young German composers, Dominik Schuster and Tobias Gröninger, already with significant experience in film and opera music.
Residents of Pata Rât will take the stage
Announced as a project during a public event organized in Cluj-Napoca last fall, the show is now in intensive preparations, being a good example of collaboration between civil society, the cultural environment and the public environment.
“Visibility and assimilation of information within Roma communities are essential for the implementation of policies and initiatives that promote inclusion and provide equal opportunities for all members of the community.
Opera has the ability to explore universal themes by involving creators from marginalized communities and can contribute to changing the perception of Roma by highlighting their cultural and artistic richness and countering negative stereotypes.
Through the work, strong emotional connections can be created and understanding and empathy can be promoted between different social groups,” said Alexandru “Pepe” Fechete, Roma activist, community facilitator.
“Waste Side Story is about stories we throw away”
The show’s director is Dan Vasile, who over the years has staged more than thirty theater shows, both classical and contemporary. Among the performers will be soloists and instrumentalists of the Romanian National Opera from Cluj-Napoca, as well as representatives of the local Roma community.
“At Pata Rât, Cluj’s landfill, we are talking about a necropolis of history inscribed on hills of over 17 hectares of waste. We are talking about more than 2,000 citizens of Cluj thrown in the trash. We’re talking about the stories that struggle to continue on this site.
One is what remains at the end of the day from one of the most expensive cities in Romania, Cluj, another is about the Roma community that lives there and which is, in a way, what remains after the social make-up is removed.
For this community, society sometimes shows recycling tendencies, but never develops a long-term strategy. Waste Side Story is about stories we throw away because it’s more convenient that way. And behind every story is, in fact, a life. And every life matters”, director Dan Vasile testified.
The show is part of the Grand Opera Pata Rât project, an initiative in the area of socially engaged art that focuses on the self-empowerment of marginalized communities from Pata Rât and on addressing Pata-Cluj relations through the ability of cultural processes to connect and bring people closer together, to to generate reflection and dialogue, to create meeting spaces, to mobilize emancipatory social energies.
