Eight shows to compete in 5th edition of DbutanT National Drama Festival final
Eight shows have made it to the final of the fifth edition of the DbutanT National Drama Festival to be organised in Sfantu Gheorghe this October by the Andrei Muresanu Theatre House (TAM) of Sfantu Gheorghe and Constanta State Theatre House.
According to organisers, a total of 27 shows signed up for the competition and over 70 actors were nominated for an acting debut award.
"The selection of performances entered this year in the DbutanT competitive festival ended on Monday, August 10. The competition has been the tightest so far, which confirms that, five years after its launch, DbutanT is still a highlight event at a national level that supports budding stage players. A total of 27 shows have been entered, of which eight will go on. The total number of nominated actors was 72, of which 30 will be seen on the DbutanT stage, which makes this competition remain fierce still," organisers said in a press statement released on Tuesday.
The 5th edition of the festival will take place October 19-23, and the 8 shortlisted shows are " Pove?ti corecte politic de adormit copiii " (Politically correct stories to put children to sleep) (Cluj-Napoca) directed by Andreea Gavriliu; "Once upon a time in '46" (Sibiu), directed by Adrian Neacsu; "(In)correct" (Cluj-Napoca) directed by Leta Popescu; "S?raci" (Paupers) (Targu Mures) directed by Rares Budileanu; "O viata normala" (A normal life ) (Cluj-Napoca) directed by Norbert Boda; "Tapetul galben" (Yellow Wallpaper) (Craiova) directed by Sebastian Marina; "Butterflies are Free" (Bucharest) - UNATC Bucharest graduation show, coordinator Ioana Barbu - Iosif Pastina, and " Jocuri in curtea din spate" (Backyard Games) (Constanta) directed by Diana Mititelu.
"This year's edition will take place in a completely new format, being organised by the Andrei Muresanu Theatre House of Sfantu Gheorghe in partnership with the Constanta State Theatre House. During the five days of the festival, the performances will be performed in person, on stage in Constanta, but they will be watched live at the Sfantu Gheorghe Theatre House hall and online, by the public from all over the country, with the aid of a live streaming system. The jury, which this year will consist only of theatre directors, will nominate five actors to move to the final. That is why it is very important that the actors left competing in the DbutanT 2020 race prepare an individual performance of maximum 50 minutes. (...) The finalists will perform their shows for the final on the stage of the Andrei Muresanu Theatre House in Sfantu Gheorghe, in front of a live audience, the jury and a specialist board. Given the new format of the festival, two prizes will be up for grabs, one offered by TAM and the other by the theatre house of Constanta."
The management of the Andrei Muresanu Theatre House announced, as far back as the first edition, that the DbutantT Festival is designed as a space for meeting and competition between the youngest actors, directors, scenographers, choreographers, playwrights, theatre music composers, etc who are at the beginning of their careers, and also as a "search engine" of the most talented of them.
The first two editions of the festival, organised in 2016 and 2017, were dedicated to debut in acting and stage directing and were won by actress Paula Rotar, a graduate of the Faculty of Drama and Television of the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca and master student of the IL Caragiale University of Drama and Cinema Arts of Bucharest, and Nagy Botond, a graduate of the University of the Targu Mures University of Arts for his direction of the show "Onegin" staged by the Figura Theatre House of Gheorgheni.
The grand prize of the third edition of DbutantT, dedicated to debuting in scenography, went to Gabriella Spiridon for the show " Povesti din bucatarie" (Stories from the Kitchen), directed by Cristian Ban, starring actors of the Baia Mare Municipal Theatre House, while the grand prize of the fourth edition, dedicated to debuting in choreography went to Simona Dabija for the choreography of the show "De fapt" (Actually).