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THE TRAGEDY OF MAN AS THEATRUM THEOLOGICUM (A DRAMATURG’S DIARY)
at times the symptoms of arrogance, rather than true cultural gestures. And
to the extent that now and then they succeed in being the latter, these heavy
albums printed on glossy paper are more emphatically discourses on theatrical
photography and less a directorial vision of productions, examples of theatrical
language or unmissable works of aesthetics. Though we can find usable works
about Silviu Purcarete’s productions, nevertheless we cannot find a proper
monograph, let’s say one like those Veronika Darida wrote about Andras Jeles
or Jozsef Nagy. I’ve taught Purcarete’s theater in the master’s program on
theory of theater at Karoli University, and I know what it means to assemble a
semester’s material about him. The lengthiest work, for instance, proved to be
Marina Constantinescu’s Les danaides. Histoire d'un spectacle,“ which com¬
prises a rehearsal diary and a lengthy interview with the director. I find the de¬
tailed conversations particularly interesting; Purcarete is a difficult interview
in any case, at least recently, perhaps because he feels he’s required to do the
analytical work in place of others. But there is the first Purcärete album, too,
the Images de thédtre,”’ which collects the work of two very important theatri¬
cal photographers, namely Patrick Fabre and Sean Hudson. The great virtue
of this thoughtfully edited, well-proportioned book is the deep interview with
the director conducted by Jean-Pierre Wurtz. This, as with Marina Constanti¬
nescu, offers a glimpse into a truly original, well-considered, mature, and puri¬
fied aesthetic. The photographers and Jean-Pierre Wurtz belong among those
who tracked the formation of Purcarete’s theater, seeing every production and
in this way bringing “inside news” of this highly complex visual world born
on the border between moving visual creations and theatrical productions.**
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
Rehearsal. “Let’s do it! I only know what should happen when it happens,”
says Silviu, cutting short the long-drawn-out conversation which had, without
anyone noticing, become unproductive.
Definition of old age: “All of a sudden, everything in the person reverses
direction: one progresses not outward, but inward.” I sensed in myself what
Purcärete is talking about: love.
46 Marina Constantinescu: Les danaides. Histoire d’un spectacle, Bucharest, Editura Nemira,
1996.
"7 Silviu Purcarete (ed.): Images de thédtre, Carniéres (Belgium), Lansman éditeur, 2002.
18 Meanwhile, a book by Oltita Cintec: Silviu Purcarete sau privirea care infatiseazd, Bucharest,
Cheiron, 2011 [Silviu Purcärete or the Look He Presents] has also appeared, which could be
a good starting point for writing the lacking Purcärete monograph. (Published by Camil
Petrescu Cultural Foundation — Teatrul Azi — Cheiron.)
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