Marius Manole, actor: “Bad people always win and the clear proof is the present” INTERVIEW

One of the few artists who have never been shy to point out the problems facing society and the injustices of the political class, Marius Manole says that the action of the play “Opera de trei parale” is still repeated and we live in the times of the bad, which, however, I fall to my feet Antoaneta Banu

The beginning of this year brought to the stage of the National Theater in Bucharest a play written almost a century ago, but still so current. “Opera de trei parale”, staged by Gelu Colceag, has been sold-out in all evenings so far, and the beginning of June brings three more performances.

Whether it's the play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht, whether it's the direction of the show or the cast of big days, the event at TNB is a success, “a crazy show”, as even the protagonist Marius Manole (45 years old) says in a interview for “Weekend Adevărul”.

The actor talks about the duty: that of the theater to the public, to offer them varied performances, that of well-known actors to the younger ones, to promote them when they deserve it. Also, Marius Manole describes himself, with pragmatism, as a mercenary who does not choose his roles based on different criteria – not only does he consider them a challenge, but he also considers the financial side.

“Weekend Truth“:
What did Mr. Gelu Colceag say when he proposed the role in “Opera de trei parale“? For what purpose did he stage this play, almost a century old?

Marius Manole: “Opera de trei parale” is a political satire, a very harsh criticism of society, which, here, for 100 years, it seems that nothing has changed for the better. I think Brecht hoped that his critical text would have effects and that in time the world would turn around and become a better one. Well, our show shows that nothing has changed since then. Corruption is still in power.

Everything happens exactly as in 1928, when Brecht wrote. Regarding the “why” that is the basis of the show at the National Theater in Bucharest, I can tell you which is mine. First of all, I must confess that I was not the first choice for this role. Before me for this role was another colleague who, unfortunately, could no longer play. That's how they turned to me, as an emergency option.

But no V-did this situation hurt?

Not. I don't let myself be hurt by anything, because I don't think I'm the navel of the earth, nor do I have pride like that. If I'm interested in a role or if it's a challenge for me, I can be the fifth option. I don't have any problems like this, so when Mircea Rusu – at the time, the general director of the National Theater – and Mr. Colceag proposed that I enter the show, I just told them that I had some problems .

Besides playing a lot, I don't sing – I mean, I don't sing at all. I was told that the project had to be done, so I started the music lessons. At rehearsals, all colleagues crossed paths. I could hear them whispering to each other and see their faces fall. With the risk of not being able to sing, even of missing this role, that's why I accepted to play Mackie Şiș. I wanted to overcome this personal fear that I always had: that I can't sing.

I'm 45 years old and I've always loved challenges. Exactly where I said I wouldn't be able to or where others told me I wouldn't succeed, that's exactly where I went. To show that it is possible and even very good.

The truth, beyond the applause

What are you all doing in “The opera of three parallels” is fabulous –
csing, dance, recite. And you sang quite well...

I don't think an actor should sing like an opera, nor should he dance like a ballerina. An actor must dance like an actor, sing like an actor, talk like an actor. I have to admit that at the first performance with the public I didn't have my best performance.

In fact, I was very weak and suffered because of it, but it still happens. We, the actors, are also used to such moments. It was an evening with a lot of emotions and actually some of us didn't manage to cross the barrier that is the night of the premiere.

Spunets that it wasn't your best evening, that you weren't in the best shape, but, finally, you got a standing ovation with such passion from the audience…

I am honest with myself. I'm not fooled by the audience neither when they applaud on their feet nor when they shout “bravo!”. I know best what a show was like. Again, I also know very well when someone tells me it was stupid, and I know it was good.

Nobody's fooling me, really. And the evening of the “Opera de trei parale” premiere was not good, but it's normal to be like that. I got the lyrics wrong, we take them from somewhere else, we take them somewhere else, that is, I had reached the performance where I, who was not singing, could keep the music and invent lyrics at the same time. There was something… But that's the beauty of a show.

What's your bet on this show?

“The opera of three parallels” can be a comedy, a satire, but what we wanted is for the audience to be moved at the end. What Mr. Colceag also proposed to me, and I thought it was a very good option, is that at the end, the viewer can no longer understand whether the one on stage speaking the monologue is Marius Manole or the character Mackie Şiș.

Is it the actor? Is it the man? Do we still have masks? Are we out of masks? At the end, the viewer should wake up and say to himself “wait a minute, because actually everything was very real, and this world is not good”.

From small to large

The site was blocked for the first evening at “Work of three parallels”. The public wanted to see this show and because the distribution it is one of the big days, full of stars.

This is very good. I'm all for the audience coming to a show for the actor or the director. But we are not stars. We are famous people. But, I like that tickets are being bought for Radu Afrim's show, that the TNB website is blocked when the tickets go on sale, that everyone wants to buy tickets to Silviu Purcărete's “Gertrude” show.

That means the world is interested in us in the know. But I think there are a lot of young people who are not known and who have good shows, done in smaller theaters, private theaters where people don't crowd. Those children also play with an empty hall because they are not known.

Even if you are in the theater, you need to build a brand. There's now a set of skills you need to learn that, even if they're unrelated to acting, help you…

It's true. But let's think there are actors who don't have my PR talent. We, the famous actors, can help the young ones. If we like certain performances made by younger colleagues, if we like certain younger actors, let's promote them, let's help them too by promoting them.

If we see a show and we liked it, then let's talk about it. We, the ones who are a little better known and have more visibility, can somehow grow them, who are just starting out.

The audience comes to the theater and sees a performance in which it is shown that, to the end, the bad guys win. Which is the moral of this show?

It's like life: the bad guys always win, and the clear proof is that that's why we're where we are. Who are we ruled by, though? Let's not forget that we have at the head of the country people without careers, without schools, only with the “school of life”.

The important thing for them is that they know how to manage, to turn things around. I know how to make a clean sheet out of everything. We are in a collapse in the country. We also see what happens in the street. They are still the Mackii Sisii in power, the ones who are always saved and fall on their feet.

May be ANDand because we've always liked bad guys...

Yes, and imposters, and bad guys…

Shows for everyone

Do you think that the “Opera of three parallels” will it be a successful show?

I think it will be successful because there hasn't been such a rich show on a theater stage for a long time. The National Theater has the resources to mount a show that you cannot see in a small theater, because there is not so much money, you do not have that turnstile that spins like a mammoth, so many people on a stage, orchestra in pit. That's why I think it will be successful: the world will be happy to see such a crazy show.

For you, as a team of the National Theatre, are you interested in a certain type of audience, perhaps the very young, perhaps the most mature?

I want to bring any type of audience to the theater. I used to play in the show directed by Petrică Ionescu, which was called “The Gentleman Bourgeois”. And it was just like that, a huge show, and someone from the team said “this is a show to unclog the slums”, because it brings everyone to the theater.

That is, a good show must be built on several levels of understanding. First of all, the audience should understand the story, the man should enjoy, then catch the nuances, the subtleties, and after that to reach the philosophy of the show. We, the National Theatre, have the duty to play shows of all kinds, for everyone. The national must also have experiments, and comedies, and contemporary theater.

Not everyone who comes to the theater wants to ask questions, to struggle, to remember the sad moments of their lives. People want to feel like they are at the theater, to see something that fills their soul with joy.

“I'm a mercenary, I can't afford to be bohemian“

When V-aÞi built this character, when aÞi worked at Mackie Sis, V-aÞI also forgot about the social sceneUm

from Romania?

Mackie Şiş has a poem that ours don't have. You don't find a politician who has an inner universe. I didn't look anywhere. I built it in my head, as I thought it should be. It's like Stockholm syndrome – it's about the one who steals from you, who lies to you, and you fall for him.

What are the criteria of which keep in mind when you accept to act in a theater performance?

Sometimes I enter a show for the money, sometimes I enter because I like the text, for the director, for the cast. I am a mercenary of my own kind, I go where I have an interest. I am not an artist, as they say or believe. I was never an artist. I'm like that, but I like to do my job very well no matter where I go.

You said you were a mercenary. What makes you happy?

The fact that every day I have the chance – in life and on stage – to discover a lot of new things, to fall in love every day, five times a day, either with people, or with situations, or with anything. I'm very curious every morning when I wake up to see how the day will be, how the show will be.

I'm very happy that I learned that when I miss something, it doesn't mean that I've lost something for good, but that it's a chance to get it right next time. I am happy that I am no longer afraid of anything or anyone, in the sense of criticism or what the world is talking about. I have a job that I go to every day with immense joy. It may sound harsh to be a mercenary, but for me it means a man who does not allow himself to be a bohemian, to choose projects according to certain rules, that he only wants to play in certain shows.

Not! I act in everything because I believe that theater has many facets and it is worth exploring them all. I think that people are different and you have to know how to play for all the audiences that exist in this world because, yes, the actor has to live.

V-aÞi withdrew from a project that somehow yourself

threaten the brand personal? How far does the mercenary Marius Manole go to live?

No, I've never backed out of a project. That's why it's easy for me, because I don't think I have a brand. I don't think I have an image, or at least I don't care. And then, if I don't believe that, I have no expectations. I don't want to prove to anyone that I have an image.

I don't think, as some say, that I have my audience. I don't have this opinion about myself. I keep getting this question: “Do you realize how lucky and happy you are? How many people love you?”. I know, but I don't want to think about it, because I would be basking in my laurels and reaching a sufficiency that is not good for this job.

Watch the full edition of Adevărul Live with Marius Manole.