The Romanian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv, in collaboration with the Theatre Department of the Tel Aviv University, invite you to a series of cultural and academic events on Romanian theatre, with the participation of theatre critic Octavian Saiu.
The events will take place in Tel Aviv, on November 28 and 29, as follows:
Wednesday, 28.11.2018, at 10:15, hall no. 1 – Kikoine Building at Tel Aviv University: Master class“From Alfred Jarry to Eugene Ionesco: Theatre, Avant-garde and Identity on the European Stage” (in English)
From Alfred Jarry to Eugene Ionesco, a true history of modernity can be traced in European culture. The former is a true hero, the reluctant pioneer of the avant-garde, who rejected everything in order to search for absolute newness. His 1896 “Ubu roi” opened an unsuspected era in western theatre. The latter is the old rebel of post-war Europe, the author who was chronologically the first of the so called “theatre of the absurd” as he made his debut in Paris in 1951 with “The Bald Soprano”. The link between them is Urmuz, a famously unknown Romanian author who was more Dadaist and surrealist than all known figures of Dadaism and surrealism.
This lecture will seek to define the organic theatricality of the European avant-garde, which started explosively with Jarry and ended predictably with Ionesco. Indeed Ionesco was the last descendant of a dynasty of artists for whom theatre was more than text or performance. Following in Jarry’s footsteps, Ionesco understood this art form as an attempt to change the world by means of changing oneself. Leaving his country behind, adopting a foreign language and affirming a new sense of cultural identity were the price he had to pay for this creative belief. Thus, this presentation will be about theatre and identity, with specific reference to two of the major figures of the western avant-garde: Alfred Jarry and Eugene Ionesco, the first and the last of European modernists.
Thursday, 29.11.2018, at 17:00, RCI Tel Aviv(8 Shaul HaMelech Blvd., 6th floor, Beit Amot Mishpat): “About Romania theatre, in a celebratory context” (in Romanian).The event will take place within the “Romanian Café” series and will be dedicated to celebrating the Centennial of Modern Romania.
The program
includes:
Round table “About Romania theatre, in a celebratory context” (in Romanian)
Participants:
Octavian Saiu, Carol Feldman, actor, and Nicu Nitai, director, actor and
founder of Karov Theatre
Virtual exhibition „100 de ani de teatru românesc - portrete caricaturizate” by Andy Ceaușu
Award ceremony of the Dr. Wilhelm Filderman - Răsplata pentru merit distinctions
Free entrance to both events, the number of seats is limited.
Octavian
Saiu is
a scholar and professional theatre critic. He has taught theatre and dramatic
literature as Associate Professor at the National University of Theatre and
Film (NUTF) in Bucharest and as Guest Lecturer at the University of Otago in
New Zealand. He was Visiting Fellow at the University of London, School of
Advanced Study, and is currently Visiting Professor at universities in Tokyo,
Hong Kong and Lisbon. He holds a PhD in Theatre Studies from NUTF, with a
thesis about theatrical space, and another one in Comparative Literature from
the University of Otago, with a thesis about Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco.
He completed a PostDoc in Literary Studies and has been awarded his
Habilitation in Theatre and Performing Arts. He has been actively involved in
several worldwide theatre events and academic conferences in North America,
Australasia and Europe, including Edinburgh International Festival, where he
was Chair of the Samuel Beckett Conference in 2013, and the Theatre Olympics in
Wrocław – European Capital of Culture 2016. Since 2004 he has been Chair of the
Conferences of Sibiu International Theatre Festival.
He is Adjunct Secretary General of the International Association of Theatre
Critics (IATC) and President of the Romanian Section – Theatre Studies of IATC.
He has published articles in several international journals, as well as nine
books on theatre. He received the Critics’ Award in 2010 and the Award of the
Union of Theatre Artists (UNITER) in 2013. His most recent book publication in
English is Hamlet and the Madness of the World (2016).
