Interview with Manager, Director, and Scenographer Mihai Constantin Ranin (Mc Ranin)

Abstract

Mihai Constantin Ranin is a visionary artist, both a director and a scenographer, whose work is deeply intertwined with the destiny of the “Tony Bulandra” Theatre in Târgoviște, Romania. As a trailblazer, he played a pivotal role in founding this theatre and establishing the Babel Festival, which has grown significantly over the years. In this interview, primarily focused on the festival, readers can gain insight into the importance of building something meaningful for both the artistic community and the general public. While many obstacles have arisen along the way, overcoming them has paradoxically fuelled his motivation. Though nothing can be achieved in complete solitude, as an artist and manager, Mihai Constantin Ranin has often felt isolated in the face of entrenched habits and mentalities. Nevertheless, he has never grown weary or hopeless. With a profound love for a holistic, almost Renaissance-like culture, he continues to reach for the stars. As someone who appreciates all nuances, he asserts: “Theatre is not a place for unanimity.”

His repertoire as a director and as a scenographer is an incredible vast one, officially starting with year 1984. Apart from many Romanian plays, well-known and much appreciated, from the international works he staged and/or designed: Pygmalion by G.B. Shaw; Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, The School for Wives, Don Juan or The Feast of Stone by Molière; The Marriage of Figaro by Pierre Beaumarchais; Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry; Macbett by Eugène Ionesco; Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett; Miss Julie by August Strindberg; The Kreutzer Sonata after Leo Tolstoy; Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, Richard III by William Shakespeare; Don Quixote after Miguel de Cervantes; Leonce and Lena and Woyzeck by Georg Büchner; Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher by Paul Claudel; The Maids by Jean Genet; Turandot by Carlo Gozzi; Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind; Nora by Henrik Ibsen; Three sisters by A.P. Chekhov; Zorba the Greek by Hristo Boychev, after Nikos Kazantzakis`s novel; Antigone by Sophocles; Central Park West by Woody Allen and many others. He is a complete and versatile artist, with a penchant for the Renaissance and Baroque periods and a style of humour specific to them—refined, intelligent, flamboyant.