Face to face with the theatre - My experience at New Wave International Theatre Festival

 

When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city, to see a...wait! Wrong story! Let's start again.

When I was a teenager, my father let me play with his camera, to learn a different art. Aaaand I was hooked. At that time I was in school for art. Photography just seemed to me as another way to paint. If I learned to use it I could show people the way I see things. I struggled taking "correct" pictures. I didn't pay much attention to the technicality of it all. Instead I kept trying to capture....something. I didn't really know what it was and how to do it. Today's teenagers would call it "vibes".

I didn't know what I was going to do with it. No that I knew wat to do with anything . I had very vague dreams for the future. I never knew how to answer when asked what I wanted to do in life. A lot of the time I just wanted to engage with my obsessions, not necessarily be part of them but be in their proximity, study them. For instance, I was really fascinated by theatre. I never really wanted to be in theatre nor did I to see as many shows as I wish I had. But the going and seeing wasn't the most interesting part. I was looking at it as a living breathing thing, a being, that expresses its self by using a complex language composed of so many people and so many skills woven together. I wanted to meet it. But I never knew how to approach it. If there were any opportunities back then, I missed them. Or they missed me. I don't know and I don't know and I don't wanna sit here figuring out who's to blame. That fascination never went away, but it moved somewhere into the dark corners of my mind from where it would sometimes echo though my other projects, traces of a forgotten muse.

My coming of age coincided with the rise of Facebook and then Instagram, it looked like my art and, especially, my photography had a chance of taking me somewhere. I didn't know where but I put one foot in front of the other and kept going. I carried my camera everywhere, from random walks, to hikes, to caves and metal concerts. And when I had something interesting to post, I would.

But social media came with a dark side, and despite what people are saying today, it started long before the introduction of the algorithms. Those were just the cherry on top. Social media came with a change of pace. A schedule. In time I stopped publishing pictures cause I had a bunch of good pictures but started to stress about taking good pictures cause I had to publish something. By the time the algorithms came and messed everything up for good, the joy in what I did was  already gone. But I did it anyway. I spent years trying to tame the algorithm, giving up, trying again, changing strategies, making stuff to cater to it. I got stuck on other projects, like the graphic novel I'm working on, cause I didn't know what format it should take. (story which, no spoilers, does involved a theatre, more on that sooner rather than later).

It got so bad that I was starting to lose all interest. In art, in writing, in photography, everything. So I gave up...on social media. No, I didn't delete all my accounts and become a digital hermit. But I changed the way I used them. I started this blog and made Facebook and Instagram just websites I sometimes visit. And I tried to focus on my projects. In a few months I started being more consistent working on them, and more importantly, enjoying things again. I started getting the itch for photography. In the past years I've only dusted off my camera if I had a gig photographing a christening or something.

I planned to go out on a photowalk. Before I could even go out with my camera for the first time in years I saw an article calling for volunteers for a theatre festival. I did not hesitate. It was exactly what I needed. It was time to face the source of those echoes in my mind. Time to get face to face with the beast and reanimate the Muse.

Can't wait to see what I learn from it.

FESTIVAL JOURNAL

Day 1: "Mic si-al dracu" and "Zborul"

I have to admit: I was nervous. Especially because the first show starred none other than Maia Morgenstern. No pressure. No warmup. Just full on awesomeness! I would lie if I said "oh, when things started and I got in the groove I was no longer nervous." No, instead now I was nervous and intimidated. But the show must go on! The energy of the show was amazing. I knew there would only be two people on stage reading from a book. The way they did it, the costumes, the music, the miming, the hilarity of it all was infectious. That's not how I expected that show to go at all. But the surprise was all too pleasant. GALLERY
 
I never photographed in a theatre before. I'm used to sweaty crazy chaotic rock venues, so this was a really interesting experience. First of all, I got to just wander around without having to squeeze between people. Second....no one spilled anything on me. Still really hot tho. Note to self: bring water.
 
I love the volunteers. Most of them are so young! As young as I was when I picked up photography and a fascination with theatre. I wish I had this kind of opportunities when I was their age. Oh, well, better late than never! As always I'm terrible with people and I haven't learned their names yet. But I'll make a conscious effort to do so.
 
The second show of the night was outside. I was more in my element, mosquitos and all. But the outside crowd is more of what I'm used to. The show however....oh my god it was hard to photograph! A little bit abut my camera: it woks like it's possessed but the spirit of annoying automation and glitches (from all the stuff that got spilled on it). Aside from not having the usual settings that you would expect and needing to be tricked into doing what you want it to do, it also will fight you. Yes, you heard me, it will fight back. You tell it you want that setting, it'll detect that you're doing something "weird" - because you're trying to trick it to do something - and it will insist you are wrong and change back. The amazing lighting the show had confused the hell out of my camera and made it fight back a lot. Here's the pictures I managed to take. GALLERY   

Main takeaway after the first day: unlike rock concerts, here the audience is relatively still and the stage is a tornado.
 

Day 2: "Moarte la teatrul de revista" and "SarmaTY/YA"

Today was so awesome. I loved the first show for exploring LGBTQIA+ themes and more, like environmentalism and misogyny. It was so good and so entertaining. What stood out to me were the "Stela Popescu" storyline, where the character was forced all he life by her mother to wear a wig and impersonate Stela to the point that she had no identity without that. Taking off the wig and talking about dreaming to rename herself and being haunted by the image of the identity she was forced into. It rang so close to the transgender experience it gave me the sniffles a little bit. The other really impactful bit was the gay director being haunted by folkloric music and how this music and the symbols associated with it represents the oppressive Romanian society. I can certainly understand that and is a subject I am actually planning to write about on this blog as well. The show was so well thought through and the actors were so good, I loved it! GALLERY
 
The second show was also amazing. A bit hard for me to follow since I had to take pictures and couldn't follow the subtitles but the performer was amazing, and the imagery conveyed more than enough. The venue was more closer to my comfort zone, closer to the concerts I'm used to photograph. Here I took my favorite phot so far. GALLERY

 

Day 3: Ada Milea & Bobo Burlacianu concert

This was so far my least favorite day of the festival. That has nothing to do with the artists, which I like and I've been a longtime fan of, nor the organizers who are doing their best. My issue was with the venue. I didn't like it and I had the distinct feeling it didn't like me (as personified by the popcorn lady in the lobby). The concert was held in the town's movie theatre, and first of the scale of everything was jarring to work with. I like human scale. This doesn't have human scale, it makes sense for a movie theatre, but so little sense for a two person folk act where the artists sit on chairs. No matter how much I squeezed myself behind the front speakers I couldn't take a picture of them and the crowd cause the space was too large. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's start with the beginning.
 
The lobby has "wonderful fluorescent light coming from straight above". I didn't mind the awkward shape of it cause I figured I could try to find some cool framings. The popcorn lady however didn't agree with me and yelled at me for trying to use the very "you are at a movie theatre" bar with popcorn and stuff to frame the people going in into the show. How dare I photograph the popcorn! Shame!
 
Then it was the seating area itself. It's nice and red which makes total sense for a movie theatre. It has that dark room feel and absorbs light....good luck taking pictures of the public without harassing them with the flash.

Oh and also the public. Thee were 3 kinds of people: on the phone, Monalisa smile and 1000 yard stare and the few that were actually looking like they were actually engaged in the show.

But the worst of the worst was the heat. This place was so fucking hot my camera turned off from overheating.

There's another show in this venue and I dread it. My plan is to get there early and photograph people going into the building past the posters instead of dealing with the lobby, least the popcorn lady yells at me again. As for the show...I'm packing more water. Also thinking of using a phone camera for the public. I think it's going to handle the dark room feel better than my usual "crazy horse" camera. GALLERY
 

Day 4: "O insula" and "Gigel"

The first show had amazing music and great light! And it was hilarious but with a deep message. It started off as a version of Robinson Crusoe, where we find out about our main protagonist who is alone on a deserted island. Then a whole cast of characters start entering the story, they all find out they are related, and an entirely chaotic plot ensues. But through all of this, Robinson is still "alone on a deserted island", at one point he tells his love interest that if she takes him she will also be alone on a deserted island. That's the main symbol of the story, alone while surrounded by family. But it's done in a very hilarious upbeat way. There's a big fish skeleton hanging above the stage pointing not so subtly at the story of Iona, which is also mentioned. And the music....oh my God the MUSIC! The music was a delight. From blues to very aggressive rap - which was sung by the grandmas *chef's kiss* it was all a feast for the ears, and the vibrancy of the set and light was pure eye candy. GALLERY
 
I dreaded the second show cause of the venue. Back at the movie theatre! But this time they turned on the air conditioning so I didn't feel like fainting half way through. One of my complaints last time was that it's big and impersonal and not on a human scale, which makes it weird and awkward when there's just one or two tiny performers in that huge space. However this time it worked better, despite there being just one performer. The whole show had a TED TALK kinda vibe, but funnier. It was just Gigel telling us about Gigel but also bringing homage to big names in the world of Romanian acting. For this the screen was used to project their portraits, which worked really really well. They loomed above him and the audience, literally larger than life. This worked so well! GALLERY
 

Day 5: "Arta" and "Gassa d'amante"

I'm writing this entry a day late because...life. Let's leave it at that.
 
The first act was about three guys and a white painting. One of the actors was the same one who did "Gigel" the day before. The plot was simple: one of the friends spent a fortune on a white painting, one takes it as a personal offence that the guy can't understand that painting is shit, and the third one is trying to keep the peace but ends up as the one they both pick on. It had funny dialog and well thought out jokes. It felt very much like reading smartass reviews on a very expensive product where the ones that like it and the ones that don't eventually resort to SHOUTING BY SMASHING CAPSLOCK. It's not my thing to be honest, I don't have the patience to listen to people argue, even if it's funny, and especially if it takes two hours. But that's not the act's fault. They all really sold it. GALLERY
 
[edit: 30 June, a day after the last show] I kept trying to figure out who this trio reminded me of. I knew I "saw them before" - the snobbish nerd, the self centered control freak and the un-opinionated one that just wants to be friends and is terrorized by a female figure in his family - Ed, Edd'n'Eddy. These three three dorks are the Eds for grown ups.
 
The second show was at a different venue, an historic school turned event location. The show was held in the yard, next to this big tree. The artists we're from Italy and I absolutely loved what I saw. Unfortunately I couldn't understand what was going on due to the language barrier but I'll give my impressions anyway. I may be completely off base.
 
The lighting was ethereal and at the start there was something with aa bridge and a river that in my view was a bridge to the other side or the River Styx. Then there were several scenes that seemed to be from different times and places, but every time someone died and it was then thrown into the river. In between the scenes it would go dark and the actors would come in with little flashlights that just looked like little orbs of light floating in space, talking among them before materializing in the next scene. At the end the orbs got hung by silk threads in the huge tree which made it look like the setting of a fairy tale. GALLERY

It was very atmospheric and I wish I understood the story better. But aside from that I had a little incident there. I spent most of the time under that tree, trying to catch the show through a frame of leaves. The spot was kept dark and I could hear little doormice scampering about. I love the little guys and I've interacted with them before, even helped someone foster some little ones once. They're not aggressive animals, maybe a bit territorial, but I guess I either almost stepped on one or made it feel really threatened...or it just thought I was a cool thing to climb on, cause it grabbed my ankle, took me by surprise, I panicked and swatted it off. It almost landed on a lady in the audience...which...thank god didn't happen cause that had the potential for chaos. Panic! at the theatre. I really hope I didn't hurt the little guy.

I took a second favorite picture here, and again, it's one of the motion blur ones. I'm noticing a preference.

Day 6: "Inainte sa-si ia zborul"

On this day I was also in the group that had to take care of the troupe from Timisoara, I gave them their welcome package and badges. My other two teammates took them from there and took care of them during the day so I could go back to editing. I was so behind, and it being the hottest day so far didn't help my mood. In a weird turn of events, the Timisoara show was the only one I didn't see (aside from the two happening in Caransebes overlapping with the ones in Resita). But I'm not too sad, cause the reason I didn't get to see it was because the venue was so packed by the time I got there I had no chance on getting a good view. So that's a win for the festival I guess! I took some pictures of the other volunteers before most of us left to go do other stuff - back to editing for me! The pictures are in the post I made for the show I did get to see.

"Inainte sa-si ia zborul" was the first show of the day and it followed the internal drama of an old senile man who doesn't yet understand that his wife recently died and the efforts of his two daughters that try to to manage him and their own grief at the same time. The lighting changes every time someone has a flashback or a vision and it's slightly confusing and jarring, in a good way. At first it's hard to understand who died and it seems like he's the one gone. In the end, after he finally realizes his beloved wife is gone he has a vision of her where she soothes him and embraces him and the light go out.
 
It was sad. The actors were amazing and the old man reminded me so much of my own grandfather on his final days. It touched an old wound. I wouldn't say it's the type of story I'd seek out on purpose but it was really well done. I left the theatre a little bit dazed and lost in thoughts. GALLERY
 

What follows is written after the festival was done. The last three days were a blur of running to the venues and then editing all day. I had no time to blog.

 

Day 7: "Genul acuzativ" and "Ciuleandra"

This is were I started losing a handle on time management. Both of these shows were long and I had a lot of material to go through the next day, which was also a very early day show wise. But enough complaining.

The first show hit me in the feels just like the on in the previous day. But while the other one reminded me of my grandfather's last days, this one put salt in a present day wound. The play started by talking about what a stroke is and how it impacted the main character's mother. Then, after the mother's death, her journal, which was considered to be a mad woman's ravings, helped her daughter navigate the web of lies and arguments in her extended family, serving as a guide of sorts to her own liberation from a tied down existence. My own mother has had multiple strokes and her behavior has been altered, I know how going through that feels. And, like many, I haven an extended family...let's not talk about them! GALLERY
 
The second show, "Ciuleandra" was a whole new thing for me. The play is a Romanian classic. A sort of gothic tale of a rich kid that kills his wife and is put in an insane asylum by his father so they can plead insanity. During this time he ruminates on the past an on his actions, comfronting his own darkness and eventually losing his mind. But the way they brought the play to life was amazing.
 
The whole thing happened in a round white enclosure that had three rows of chairs around it with a walking space behind he chairs. The actors didn't just perform in the middle, but also from behind. They walked around and touched people, there were creepy shadows projecting from outside the circle, disorienting projections on the "circular" screen around you, sounds from beyond the walls, I even got splashed with water at some point. The whole thing was extremely immersive and captivating. I don't now if the growing heat at the end was because of the weather or on purpose but it worked wonderfully with the hellfire projections at the end of the show. GALLERY
 

Day 8: "Delir in doi" and "O idee geniala"

This day didn't just have an unusual till now earlier schedule, but it was also the other side of town, so I had to leave much earlier. Meaning I was in a big hurry to finish editing the photos from the previous day. I actually can't remember if I finished that before or after the shows.
 
The first show was a wonderful funny production from a Turkish group. I unfortunately couldn't read the subtitles but the visual told me more than enough to get the gist of it. A couple being stuck at home during a bombing and living their possible last moments to the fullest. I loved how creative everything was and how well they broke the language barrier with their actions. Show don't tell. GALLERY
 
After I had to jump in the tram and get my ass back to the theatre in the town center to see the second show. This show was very reminiscent of a sitcom. The plot centered around a guy who thinks his partner might have eyes for their real estate agent. He happens to meet a ditzy aspiring actor that looks exactly like the guy and plans to make him be rude to her in order to turn her off. Things go south really fast with both men ending up in the same house, both partners trying to play it cool, to add fuel to the fire the actors twin brother also enters the picture. The neighbor's wife also gets involved, falling for the twin brother, not knowing there's three identical men and also getting the false news of the homeowners death just to then run into him and think she's having a vision. The identical men were played but the same actor, plus one guy that appeared whenever the character had his face obscured. but everything was insanely creative with one character fainting behind the couch and the other one popping out from the kitchen door and so on. Amazing show! GALLERY
 

Day 9: "Occident Express RO" and "Mobila si durere"

Last day! I was so tired at this point. But also not really ready for it to be over. In a way it felt like I was only getting the hang of things, but at the same time like I've been doing this for ages. Today's schedule was similar to the previous day, with the exception of the fact that there was a very short window between the two shows to teleport myself back to the town center. I made it on time tho!
 
The first play was abut the Romanian diaspora. It had different segments but the glue between them was the blind old man and his granddaughter. The grandfather really wanted to touch the Orient Express train cause to him it represented the Occident and hope, but the girl and her lover kept tricking him that the train was going by just so he's not disappointed. He also had a thing about pissing on borders. I'm with you on that old man! All the fucking way! In between were small humorous but brutally honest short scenes of hope and hardship of people far from home. It was masterfully done and touching, and the lady that sat close to me burst out in tears at one point cause she was thinking of her daughter. GALLERY
 
One tram ride later and I was at the last play of the festival. This was a hilarious and absurd plot set in 1970s Romania. The main subject was shallowness and the dehumanizing pursuit of appearance. The characters declared and strived for the most stupid of things, leaving all feeling aside. Except for jealousy. They change themselves and their circumstances to be perceived a certain way, the dog they get, the relationships they're in, the hobbies they practice, all serve the purpose of making them seem more important. My favorite line was "How can I show my face in public if my wife doesn't have a lover like all wives." GALLERY
 

One day later:

Back to reality. Despite feeling like I could just sleep all day I had to juggle postponed errands with editing the last batch of pictures, writing this, and getting the newsletter ready for tomorrow. Decided the first edition of the newsletter will be fashionably late cause it's past midnight while I'm writing these very lines and I'm not even going to get to edit this tonight, let alone, write and edit that. On to of that my head is still buzzing with all that went on these days and all that I want to put into words here. But before I get to the epilogue:
 

LADIES AND GENTLEFOLK,

WELLCOME TO

THE SID AWARDS!!!

I won't contradict the jury of the festival. They're people who know what the hell they're saying when it comes to theatre. However, theatre is art, and art is subjective. It speaks differently to different people. So here are my picks.
 

BEST ENERGY AWARD GOES TO:

"Mic si-al dracu"

The text is funny on its own but what these two people did on stage with it wasn't just hillarious but infectious. The music, the dance, the mimed raunchy jokes, everything was amazing.
 

THE "CLOSEST TO MY HEART" AWARD GOES TO:

"Moarte la teatrul de revista"

I didn't expect to see queer themes, let alone so openly displayed and discussed. For me this was my little moment PRIDE celebration. Thank you! 

 

THE "BEST MUSIC" AWARD GOES TO:

"O insula"

The music for this was out of this world, I have no words. No notes. Just OMG. 

 
THE "BEST VISUALS" AWARD GOES TO:

"SarmaTY/YA"

I feel a bit weird calling this "best visuals" cause this performance was so much more than that! But for me the harsh lights and bondage-y costume (costume? was that thing a prop or a costume?) was right up my alley visually.
 

THE "MAN, I WISH I KNEW WHAT THOSE ORBS ARE TALKING ABOUT" AWARD GOES TO:

"Gassa d'amante"

I loved the light orbs in the dark theme. Really wish I understand it better. Bonus points for having a scuffle with a doormouse while the show went on. An evening to remember!

 

THE "I'M NOT CRYING, IT'S THE DAMN ONION CHOPPING NINJAS" AWARD GOES TO:

"Inainte sa-si ia zborul" and "Genul acuzativ"

 Why hurt me this way?
 

THE "MOST AWESOME EXPERIENCE" AWARD GOES TO:

"Ciuleandra"

The whole setup was fantastic. From the projections and creepy shadows to the costumes and the nurse being unsettling and petting everyone's back.

 
THE "MOST ADORBALE" AWARD GOES TO:

"Delir in doi"

These two were a delight to watch interact. The costumes, make-up and props were hilarious. Even the the two techs were adorable. 

 
THE "HILLARIOUS CLUSTERFUCK" AWARD GOES TO:

"O idee geniala"

What it says on the tin. This was hilarious and confusing. I had me laughing so hard I nearly dropped the camera at one point. I couldn't even focus properly at the end when I was expecting he to do the bows and instead Father Emeric showed up.

 
THE "BRUTAL HONESTY" AWARD GOES TO:

"Occident Express RO"

The metaphor of the old blind man, the empty houses talking and the honest look at the reality of immigration was refreshing and heart wrenching while still managing to keep everyone laughing.

 

Epilogue

I went into this wishing to finally go near the entity that is theatre and reawaken my sleepwalking muse from long ago. And I did. Oh god I did. I learned so much, yet not as much as I wish to, so this will be an ongoing field of unbridled curiosity for me. But here's what I learned:

As I said in the intro, I see the theatre as a living being, larger than life, that communicates by way of displaying so many people's skills. Yet I learn that that's not all it does, it also tames what would otherwise be complete chaos, it harmonizes hearts and minds in such a way that for an hour or two it bends the reality of those who step into it's embrace. And it does that joyously. The beating heart of this entity is a sense of community. None of this works without people collaborating closely, being kind and helpful. I haven't met anyone who was grumpy and detached, everyone I met was always happily engaged with their role in the whole thing.

This great beast feeds on curiosity. The stories made people laugh and cry and think, but the feeling that permeated the most was the collective curiosity. The shows that did things different or approached themes less explored were the ones that changed the vibe completely. I saw people look at what was going on transfixed, not laughing, not crying, at first glance it seemed that they're bored or maybe not enjoying it. Yet at a closer look you saw they were entirely captivated and the whole building seemed to hum with that sense of curiosity and newness, like the birthing of a star in the space created by the merging of so much curiosity.

I also learned a lot about myself and my art. It helped me crystalize thoughts that were rattling in my head. It made me look the many faced awakened Muse in the eyes and understand more about my self in the process. After years of falling into the algorithmic numbness this was the baptism by fire I needed to truly fell reconnected to my own creativity.

I came face to face with the theatre and it showed me I am not alone, art isn't a lone man's note in a bottle sent into the void but many voices harmonizing at once telling a never ending story, reverberating through the ages. My voice is part of that.

 
P.S. I'm dyslexic and I did proofread this. hopefully I caught everything, if not, sorry! Don't be afraid to yell at me about it!
 

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