The UNITER Awards Gala brought together some of the most important names of Romanian theatre, in an evening dedicated to artistic excellence, marked by the awarding of the most important distinctions in the field and emotional moments.
“Day’s Long Road to Night,” the night’s big winner
The award for the Best Show at the 34th edition of the UNITER Awards Gala was awarded to the production of “The Long Road to Night”, based on Eugene O’Neill, directed by Timofei Kuliabin, performed by the “Radu Stanca” National Theater in Sibiu. The gala took place on Monday evening, in the Majestic hall of the Odeon Theater in Bucharest.
The trophy was handed to the director of the Sibiu theater, the actor Constantin Chiriac, by the stage designer Dragoș Buhagiar and the actress Rodica Mandache, who confessed that the choice of the winner was not an easy one at all.
The success of the Siberian production was complemented by the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, awarded to Nicu Mihoc for his portrayal of Edmund Tyrone in the same show.
The general mayor of the Capital, Ciprian Ciucu, was also present at the event, who emphasized the role of culture in defining the identity of a society.
“Culture is so important as our own identity and as our own belonging. Obviously it is important,” said the mayor of the Capital.
Radu Afrim, awarded for the best direction
The award for Best Direction – the “Lucian Pintilie” Award – went to the director Radu Afrim for the show “The House of Blocks”, a production of the Târgu-Mureș National Theater – the “Tompa Miklós” Company. The distinction was handed to him by the actress Emilia Popescu.
In his speech, the director thanked the theater team and conveyed a message to the new generation of artists.
“Thank you to this wonderful troupe – “Tompa Miklos”, the National Theater from Târgu-Mureş, who received me very warmly many times and I wrote for them, I wrote for their voices, for their eyes, for their bodies, for their soul, I made what you call characters, I call them people. (…) I’m going to do something I never thought I’d do, I’m going to give a piece of advice to the younger ones: Only talk about the things that hurt you true, the things that really make you happy, because that’s the only way you’ll be happy, happy and you’ll make the audience happy too, and please don’t be seduced by any extreme ideology in this world.” transmitted Radu Afrim.
Victor Rebengiuc, honored for his entire career
One of the most emotional moments of the gala was the awarding of the “UNITER Tribute” award to actor Victor Rebengiuc, for his impressive career.
The prize was presented to him by the president of UNITER, Dragoș Buhagiar, and the vice-president Aura Corbeanu. In his message, Buhagiar spoke about the essential role that the great actor played in supporting the institution.
“When we are born we have some natural parents. During our life we have the chance to choose our cultural parents, and you are for several generations really a spiritual parent. (…) I thank you very much, on behalf of the Union, because when there were black clouds above our Union, while many were hiding, you defended the UNITER without any reservation”. Dragoş Buhagiar passed it on to Rebengiuc.
The actor, for his part, spoke about the people who marked his professional path and about the generation he belonged to.
“I met, maybe it will surprise some, some people who helped me a lot in my career, starting with Vlad Mugur, then Mrs. Bulandra, and before all Mrs. Aura Buzescu, my teacher. After that, Ciulei, Pintilie, Vlad Mugur, Radu Penciulescu and many others in the almost 70 years of my career, a career that I have gone through. Now I am resting and that’s it. I came, I’m here, thank you for the award and I hope to meet my former colleagues. I’m part of a generation that meant a lot to the Romanian theater. I didn’t feel like saying this, so I hope to meet everyone there.” said Victor Rebengiuc.
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The complete list of prizes awarded at the UNITER Gala
• The best show – “The long road of the day to the night” by Eugene O’Neill, directed by Timofei Kuliabin, production of the National Theater “Radu Stanca” Sibiu;
• The best direction – “Lucian Pintilie” Award – Radu Afrim for directing the show “Casa dintre blocuri”, production of the Târgu-Mureș National Theater – “Tompa Miklós” Company;
• The best debut – Larisa Popa for directing the show “This accursed place” by Anamaria Feraru and Ruxandra Simion, production of the Replika Educational Theater Center Bucharest;
• The best radio theater show – “Fereastra care n avea somn” by Selma Dragoș, radio adaptation and directed by Mihnea Chelaru, Romanian Broadcasting Society;
• The best scenography – Oana Micu for the scenography of the show “Cherry Orchard” by AP Cehov, directed by Andrei Măjeri, produced by the Constanța State Theatre;
• Best actor in a supporting role – Tibor Pálffy for the role of Jean in the play “Rhinoceros” by Eugene Ionesco, directed by László Bocsárdi;
• The best actress in a supporting role – Alexandra Caras for the role of Mica in the performance “Dealul florilor” by Calița Nantu, directed by Mark Christopher Demeter;
• Best Actor in a Leading Role – Nicu Mihoc for the role of Edmund Tyrone in “The Long Road of the Day to the Night”;
• The best actress in a leading role – Cătălina Mihai for the role of Janis in the show “Club 27”, directed by Alex Bogdan;
• The best theater critic – “George Banu” Award – Kinga Boros for the critical analyzes regarding the theater from Transylvania, from a multicultural perspective;
• The best Romanian dramatic text staged in absolute premiere – “At dawn, the light is harsher” by Mihaela Michailov, directed by Radu Apostol;
• The best animated theater show / children’s theater – “The Window”, dramatized by Robert Copoț, Laurentiu Pleșa and David Zuazola, directed by David Zuazola;
• The best original music and sound design – Vasile Şirli for the music of the show “The unique story of Abul Hossein the Yemenite and his flight into the desert (after 1001 nights)”, directed by Silviu Purcărete;
• Best video design – Bogdan Slăvescu for the show “Dark Play” by Carlos Murillo, directed by Radu Apostol;
• The best lighting design – Nichita Teodorescu for the show “Winter” by Jon Fosse, directed by Hunor Horváth;
• The best choreography / scenic movement – Andrea Gavriliu for the choreography of the show “Rave de Ravel”.
Special awards and distinctions for the entire activity
Special prizes were awarded to:
• The ȘI Festival – Theater and Film Festival, the 5th edition, carried out by the Șerban Ionescu Association, for the development of a space for creation and cultural identity in the 2 Mai locality;
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• Bucharest Art Theatre, for resistance and contribution to independent culture, after 15 years of activity;
• “Marin Sorescu” National Theater in Craiova, on the 175th anniversary of its existence;
• To the “Vasile Alecsandri” National Theater in Iasi, for the 185 years of history and continuity.
* Awards for the entire activity were handed out to the actress Catrinel Dumitrescu, the actor Marius Bodochi, the director Tompa Gabor, the set designer Marie-Jeanne Lecca and the theater critic Marina Constantinescu.
* The “Ion Caramitru” excellence award was given to the ACT Theater – the first independent theater in Romania -, the distinction being received by the actor Marcel Iureș and the institution’s team.
* The UNITER president’s award went to ARCUB, being handed to manager Mihaela Păun.
* The British Council award was given to the show “Supernormals”, a production that approaches the theme of disability through a mixture of cruel realism and black comedy.
The jury of this year’s edition was made up of stage designer Cosmin Florea, actor Iulian Postelnicu, director Bobi Pricop, theater critic Miruna Runcan and actress Andrea Tokai. A surprise moment of the evening was the presence of countertenor Valer Săbăduș, a German musician of Romanian origin, and the artistic concept of the gala was signed by Răzvan Mazilu and Dragoș Buhagiar.
