The Diversity and Energy of the Eastern European Theatre

Abstract

In theatre, the twentieth century undoubtedly belongs to the directors, especially European, both as practitioners and theorists. In its last decades however, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, a kind of pole migration took place. After so many years of censorship, it's the turn of Eastern Europe to show its best in theatre. This book presents a subjective-editorial selection of twenty directors who have risen to international stardom thanks to their "ground-breaking" productions that speak to audiences far beyond local borders. It offers informative and in-depth portraits of these artists, written by critics, scholars, and researchers, who shed light on the directors' signature styles, with examples of their emblematic productions. In the last two chapters, the selected directors discuss their artistic family trees, as well as the main stakes theatre faces today. From Romania, the editors selected three names: Andrei Şerban, Silviu Purcărete and Gianina Cărbunariu.