With highs and lows, 2017 is nearing its end. It is a good time for conclusions. In this context, IPN sought to see how 2017 played out in the lives of Moldovans at home and abroad. Was it the year that brought them a resolve to build their future at home, or did it strengthen their desire to leave? Was it the year for opening or closing businesses? A truly wonderful occurrence maybe? Today we peer into 2017 as it happened for “Mihai Eminescu” National Theater Director Petru Hadârcă.
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“The question, I gather, seeks the perspective on the outgoing year from the individual, rather than the institution head. I live every day, hour, and second of 2017 through theater: all of my joys, sorrows, worries, aspirations and desires were focused on this aspect of my life. My children are all grown up; they study and work abroad, and their lives don’t depend on mine anymore, and I can’t influence as I once could. I wait for them and hope their lives turn out happy. Therefore, theater is all I can do, and I am glad I had the health and vigor to achieve so many of the things I had planned,” says Petru Hadârcă.
He rejoices in the memory of full house shows throughout 2017, although the theater is hot in the summer, and warm enough in winter. Both Bulgakov’s “Zoya’s Apartment” (directed by V. Drucec) and the M. Sebastian’s “Nameless Star” (directed by A. Cozu) were in very high demand.
“An important achievement in 2017, not only for me, but also for the Moldovan audience, was the Reunion of National Romanian Theaters, which lined up 18 shows from five Romanian and four Moldovan theaters. Eight radio shows were played, products of the Bucharest National Radio Theater, and - a first - several radio plays from the Radio Theater of the “Teleradio-Moldova” National Public Television, adds Petru Hadârcă.
2017 was rich in tours. The actors of the “Mihai Eminescu” played on stages in Bucharest and Iași, and the theater later hosted actors from those cities on our stage. We had a memorable tour to Budapest. The actors of the National Theater participated in a series of international festivals, and won the Grand Prize of the International Contest of Contemporary Drama in Brasov, with “In Your Charming Eyes,” a play by Gib Mihăiescu. Petru Hadârcă added that these festival and tours are vital for stimulating the inspiration and innovation of the creative team.
“I am glad I managed to put on a play in Iasi, a show with a heavy theme - the famine of ’46. “The Red Draught” draws from “The Famine Book”, a study documented by Larisa Turea. This is part of a larger cooperation project between our theater and the Iasi National Theater. Stimulating [collective] memory has been a major focus of mine in the past few years. I am grateful to the București Radiophonic team, who have given me access to documentary shows, allowing me to revive the wonderful lives of Lia Manoliu, the Chișinău-born Olympic medalist, of famous director, actress, and professor Marietta Sadova, and of Axinte Frunză, the Moldovan resident of Athos,” says the director.
Petru Hadârcă doesn’t dwell on the hardship and disappointments of the past year. “I wish for peace and health in the coming year, for endurance to continue my creative projects. I would love to find solutions for our theater’s ventilation system. I truly hope for a miracle that would make the Moldovan administrative, economic, social and cultural systems turn their eyes on the people and their growth. I hope the Unification Centennial doesn’t merely convey a symbol, but rather mobilizes and keeps us within the bounds of the Romanian culture and European civilization, offering a chance for our children to come back home,” says Petru Hadârcă.