The Cahul Theater “B.P. Hasdeu” will have a new building. The construction works will start in May and are to be completed in two years. The theater’s director Gheorghe Mandru has told IPN that the new head office will be built with a grant of €800,000 provided by Romania.
The old building of the theater was demolished as a result of basement floods at the end of the 1990s. The troupe moved to the former building of the Cahul Court, where there was set up a performance hall with a seating capacity of 100. The construction of the new building has been postponed for many years owing to the lack of funds.
“Ex-minister of culture Boris Focsa helped us design the new building with state budget money, but it wasn’t known when a new theater would be built as there weren’t the necessary financial resources. Last summer, we were visited by former Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and we told him our dream to build a theater and to acquire a unit of transport by which to go on tours. We were offered assistance shortly afterward,” said Gheorghe Mandru.
He stated that on September 10, one month of the Premier’s visit to Cahul, the Government of Romania pledged to support the theater and, on October 10, there was laid the foundation stone of the new building. On December 31, the money allocated by the Romanian side was transferred to the accounts of the Ministry of Culture. As a result of the oscillations on the currency market, the initial sum increased.
The director also said that the initial design envisioned a building with a hall of 180 seats, but this variant was modified and the hall will thus have 300 seats, plus the box. The troupe of “B.P Hasdeu” Theater includes 17 actors.
In Moldova there are 19 professional theaters employing 1,570 actors. Thirteen of the 19 theaters are situated in Chisinau. World Theater Day is marked annually on March 27.
