Preparation for the FITS Anniversary Edition

Sibiu is preparing for the 25th edition of the International Theater Festive, to be held in June this year

Luana Pleşea, 20.01.2018, 13:49

The best known performing arts festival in Romania, the Sibiu
International Theater Festival (FITS), prepares for its 25th
edition, taking place between June 8 and 17, and has the theme ‘Passion’. FITS,
is an event that has gained in popularity with an amazing speed, and has become
a veritable competitor for the Edinburgh and Avignon festivals.

Constantin
Chiriac, director of the Radu Stanca National Theater and president of the
festival, spoke about this edition:

We will be hosting Tokyo
Metropolitan Theater artistic director Hideki Noda, with ‘One Green Bottle’, a
joint production they stage with the London National Theater. It is an exceptional
comedy, a play in English in which Mr. Hideki Noda plays a woman. Also
performing are two great actors, one Noh actor and the other a Kabuki
performer. We will also be hosting what is, from my point of view, one of the
most important theater companies not only in Israel, but also the world. It is
the Gesher Theater, with their play ‘Yakish and Poopche’, by Hanoch Levin, who
may very well be the most important Israeli playwright. Wajdi Mouawad returns
to Sibiu with one of his most thought- provoking shows, which he directs and
acts in. It is ‘Inflammation Du Verbe Vivre’, a Theatre de la Colline
production. Both Wajdi Mouawad and Hideki Noda will get a star on the Walk of
Fame. We will also have in Sibiu Isabelle Hupert, in a show by Jan Fabre, ‘Je
Suis Un Boeuf’. We will bring back Thomas Ostermeier, with ‘Returning to Reims’,
a Schulbuhne Berlin production. Also, director Luk Perceval is back with us,
with the entire trilogy based on Emile Zola, which we ventured to produce
together with the Hamburg Thalia Theater. We will also have there Det Norske
Teatret of Oslo, one of the two most important theater companies in Norway,
with ‘Mourning Becomes Electra’. Also, after many years, we will have Les
Ballets Jazz of Montreal, with two different shows. We are very proud of the
fact that we can bring in one of the most important dance troupes in the world.
As a first, we will have the Aleksandrinsky Theatre of Sankt Petersburg. It is
a great victory to be able to bring here Valeryi Fokin, one of the best directors
of all times in Russia, head of the Meyergold Center in Moscow. Aleksandrinsky
Theatre will stage the play ‘Yours, Gogol’, winner of the Golden Mask Award.

As usual, dance has a special place at FITS. One of the shows this
year will be FLEXN, directed by Peter Sellars and choreographed by Reggie ‘Regg
Roc’ Gray. Also there will be Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, with the show
Mother’s Milk, choreographed by Marie Chouinard and Michele Noiret. The Radu
Stanca National Theater will participate with one of this season’s premieres,
and with an eagerly awaited project still in the works, a kabuki project. It is
called ‘The Scarlet Princess of Edo’, for which composer Siviu Purcarete works
with stage designer Dragos Buhagiar and composer Vasile Sirli. The show will be
staged exclusively with actors from the Sibiu National Theater, as well as
undergraduate and graduate students from the Sibiu Theater School.

Here is
Constantin Chiriac once again:

This premiere will
inaugurate the Kabuki Hall, built by the book by Dragos Buhagiar. It is the
space parallel to Faust Hall, in the Culture Factory. We will even have small
balconies, the way they have at the National Kabuki Theater in Japan. The
second round of rehearsals will start on April 14. In December we had a general
meeting, attended by Mr. Nobuaki Tomita, who took this trip especially for
this, and created a miraculous moment for us: he showed us how an actor can
change ten costumes in ten seconds. Also, he showed us a fabric that only he
makes, which changes colors depending on the intensity of light. We are very
proud that we have in this project the greatest kimono creators in Japan, Mr.
Nobuaki Tomita, one of the greatest artists in Hollywood.

According to director Constantin Chiriac, ‘The Scarlet Princess of
Edo’ will be the first show to open the 2020 Cultural and Olympic Games in
Tokyo.

The Sibiu Show Auction Market, organized by the Radu Stanca National
Theater, will be open for registration until March 23. Right from its first
edition, in 1997, the Show Auction Market has developed as a major cultural
network, acting as a go-between for festivals, artists, independent companies
and state institutions in performing arts. Annually, over 300 participants from
across the world meet in Sibiu to network in order to arrange future
partnerships. This year’s edition takes place over June 11-16, 2018.