by Stelian Iuga […] Before I turned ten, my folks were already divorced, split the family assets and went their separate ways. They divided, in as civilized a way as they could, the house, the car and whatever cash or personal expenses they might have had. Again, it might seem hard to believe, but the toughest negotiations concerned the truckload of books they had put up all along the inside walls. They eventually reached an agreement: after each of them kept the volumes relating to their fields of activity, mom took the art albums, several foreign authors, the new books…
The Iakabs have been living in Bucharest without a roof over their heads. The family takes shelter in abandoned buildings and is constantly on the move because they are driven away either by the landlord, by people authorized by the landlord or by other homeless people looking for shelter. In June 2012, the family was forced to leave a place they had occupied after pressures made by a group of young people who wished to turn the location into a cultural center (with autorization from the owner). The building concerned was the one at “Carol 53”. At that time, we…
by Ioana Pelehatăi I’m a child of the 90s, my Sex Ed consisting of sneak peeks into Bravo magazine, because it was “shameful.” I don’t really know how, but I was struck by a bolt of feminism. I first came across The Vagina Monologues – a text already famous in the US at that time – when I was 17 or 18, on the long since decommissioned station Acasă. Back then, TV still had the occasional outburst of life. Or maybe the HBO documentary based on the performance was pseudo-feminist enough and cheesy enough to enthrall both housewives and teenage…
Interview with Valentina Ivanov Valentina Ivanov left Serbia because of the Yugoslav Wars. In 2000, she came to Romania together with her husband and two children. After three years of struggle and lawsuits, Valentina and her family acquired refugee status. Ten years after arriving in Romania, Valentina and her two children became Romanian citizens. Her story inspired one of the five characters from the play Born in the Wrong Place. I met her when we started rehearsing for the performance and she made quite an impression on me. She exudes positive energy and seems to have a smile on her…
Interview with Bashar Al-Kishawi Bashar Al-Kishawi is a medical school graduate and a journalist. He left Kuwait when he was 18. He is Palestinian and for this reason, his right to benefit from higher education was denied in Kuwait. In 1990 he came to Romania to study medicine. Due to the Romanian legislation, Bashar had to choose reskilling after graduation. He became a journalist and currently works for Radio Romania. He is one of the five “voices of migration” from the performance Born in the Wrong Place. Since I am the one who tells his story and he is the…
by Petre Florin Manole I was born in a dead-end city, an economic and cultural wasteland (Slobozia, in Ialomița County). Back then, the highlight of the area was the festivities during the Days of the City: beer in a plastic cup and traditional music. As if that wasn’t enough, I later moved to the countryside – in Amara, Ialomița) – and moved up in the world: an annual music festival, with up and coming young “celebrities” and all the other artists for whom Bucharest was too small. That’s why, until I was 18, theater to me meant the radio theater…
Interview with Zoe Costache Everyone in the theater calls her Zoe or Misses Zoe. She’s 53 and wants to retire from Teatrul Foarte Mic (The Very Small Theatre). She worked at the wardrobe, at dressing room maintenance, and now she’s a technical director and handles dressing room maintenance as well. She’s very high-spirited and very observant. She’s fond of every performance and she’s very devoted to her job. When did you start working for Teatrul Foarte Mic? I was transferred here from Teatrul Masca. I had been working there for two years. The actors cried when I left. I came…