On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the declaration of Moldova’s Independence, IPN News Agency decided to depict the portrait of the current Republic of Moldova. For the purpose, we challenged a number of people, including state officials, politicians, businessmen, civil rights activists and persons without posts and titles, but who have what to say. The generic picture is entitled “Thoughts about and for Moldova”.
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Actor Alexandru Plesca: Moldova is like a continuously galloping horse that cannot find its place
Moldova, at the 25th anniversary of its Independence, is troubled and unsettled. During these years, we mostly focused on destroying rather than creating, says Alexandru Plesca, actor of the “Mihai Eminescu” National Theater. In his opinion, this happened because before independence, our people were marginalized and hunted, they had no freedom, and afterwards, feeling a little free, they started to destroy. “If during the Soviet Union we had a strict regime and could not do a lot of things, now we have this ‘freedom’ and that’s how we understand it”, said Plesca.
He compared the country to a horse that is always galloping without finding its place. “We are constantly running, making, working, protesting, but in the end there are no results. Whenever we had to make a decision about ourselves, we were afraid. I think we still have a long way until true independence and I’m not sure when we are going to obtain it. With a foreign army occupying the Transnistrian region, what kind of independence are we talking about? We have no identity. When you have no identity, you cannot be proud”, opined the artist.
He thinks the overall level of education and culture is below zero. “From what I’ve seen, we like only cheap music. Unfortunately, we are suffering. The biggest problem are people in the countryside. We are ignoring them. We are never launching a book in villages, never go there with a good theater play or some movies”, explained Plesca.
According to him, theater has stagnated in these 25 years, but “sometimes it’s good to stagnate, you can realize what’s happening and then go on the right path”. Many gifted actors and directors from the “Mihai Eminescu” National Theater have left the country together with their families because they could not provide for them anymore. “If you have a family, as an actor, it’s very complication. You have to get a second income. But when you do this, acting becomes secondary and it’s not as fruitful”, says the actor.
As regards the public’s interest in culture, Alexandru Plesca thinks it must be raised from childhood. “I know many people who are well-off but when they want to come to the theater, they ask me if I can get them an invitation. Why? Because when they go to the market and buy a kilo of peaches, they know they get peaches for the money. I think this perception is shared by many: why pay for culture? What do you get? Can you put it on the table or in the fridge? Many thought for a long while that one can live without theater and it’s not necessary to focus on it. Many don’t believe in culture. This must be changed through education starting from the kindergarten level”, explains the actor.
Plesca added that movies share a similar situation. There are only two filmmakers in Moldova actually making movies. They have their own teams and that’s it. The others who graduate from the film direction department go on to shoot weddings and baptisms.
The actor wants Moldova to be a ‘little Switzerland’. “I want to have a good life, in a clean environment, to walk safely on the streets even at night, but we need to work a lot for this. We should have started way earlier, immediately after independence, but it’s never too late and we shouldn’t give up”, stressed Plesca.
He thinks that if our land returns to its mother-country, Romania, things will improve in 10 years, many officials will be jailed for their misdeeds and people will live better. “I think we must open our eyes and minds, to see who we are, who we were, what our values were, what are we moving towards and where we want to be”, concluded the actor.
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Alexandru Plesca is an actor of the “Mihai Eminescu” National Theater and also plays in the shows of the Foosbook Theater Laboratory. He is a graduate of the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts. In 2012, he received a UNITEM Awards nomination for the Best Actor of the Year.
Anastasia Rusu, IPN
The articles of the series “Thoughts about and for Moldova” started to be published on July 18. Among the protagonists are: Dumitru Alaiba, Iurie Ciocan, Ana-Maria Tulea, Ion Manole,Olga Gagauz, Stella Ciobanu, Iurie Leancă, Victor Parlicov, Doru Curosu, Igor Meriacre, Valeria Seican, Ciprian Raetchi, Andrei Nastase Ghenadie Galca, Arcadie Barbarosie,Valeriu Matei, Eugen Doga, Dumitru Postovan, Petru Macovei, Tatiana Negrus, Maia Sandu, Viorel Soltan, Valentin Gutan, Gheorghe Erizanu, Mariana Onceanu-Hadarca, Viorel Cibotaru, Iulia Iabanji, Aureliu Batrînac, Petru Bodarev, Sergiu Prodan, Igor Dodon etc. When contacted, Nicolae Timofti, Andrian Candu, Pavel Filip, Marian Lupu, Vladimir Voronin, Mihai Ghimpu, Renato Usatyi, Valeriu Turea and others also agreed to give interviews.
