Text taken from reșița.ro | author: Marian Apostol

On June 27, 2025, at 6:00 PM, the Reșița audience was invited to laugh, be silent, listen and applaud. The Regina Maria Theater in Oradea honored the New Wave International Theater Festival with one of its best productions: "The Accusative Genre", a tragicomedy directed by Mimi Brănescu, which brought to the Reșița stage an explosion of unspoken truths, cruel humor and authentic emotion. A show that demonstrated that theater can be, at the same time, a mirror, a wound and a balm.

After the death of her husband, Marina, masterfully played by Gabriela Codrea, sets out with a fierce determination to give voice to all the injustices she has endured throughout her life. She does not forgive, she does not forget, she leaves nothing unsaid. The moral support of her anger is a detailed diary, in which every betrayal, humiliation or lack of empathy is meticulously recorded, almost documentary. Is it truth? Is it revenge? It can be both, because – as the entire play shows – justice is always relative, and each person's perspective radically changes the narrative.

The text is a jewel of balance between sarcasm, explosive humor and revelation. The change in tone, from roaring laughter to a lump in the throat, is done with remarkable fluidity. The disease becomes here both the catalyst and the product of unresolved tensions – a metaphor for what we bury too deeply, for too long. Without slipping into pathos, Brănescu constructs a deeply dramatic situation in an easily recognizable everyday setting: a drawing room, a family, an oppressive past.

When Marina dies, Lena – her daughter – takes over. Denisa Irina Vlad gives a mature performance, with an intensity that does not try to imitate her mother, but continues her. Taking on the role of judge, but also of wounded daughter, brings another dimension to the conflict in the second act. It is not only about what has been done to the women in the family, but also about what they do to others, when it is their turn.

Yes, words are spoken "without a veil," but none of them sound false or gratuitously offensive—they are drawn directly from life, from that raw reality that rarely reaches the stage unfiltered. Language becomes an instrument of truth, not vulgarity.

The artistic direction relies on simplicity and authenticity, and the cast plays with nerve and sincerity. Gabriela Codrea builds a memorable Marina, strong and vulnerable at the same time, and Denisa Irina Vlad, in the role of the daughter Lena, manages a credible transition to a new stage of the confrontation. Alongside them, Adela Lazăr (Tania), Sorin Ionescu (Anghel), Richard Balint (Ionel) and Pavel Sîrghi (Marius) give life to a gallery of complex characters, marked by their own burdens and contradictions.

A special stage presence was Ioana Dragoș Gajdo, in the role of Cati – a secondary character transformed into a landmark through the naturalness of her acting, the restrained energy and the frankness with which she carried her own drama, without claiming it as such. Each of her appearances brought an extra rhythm and humor, with an expressiveness that elevated the character above its narrative function.

Oana Cernea's scenography is simple and functional, focusing attention on the word and the conflict, while the light design and original music, signed by Șerban Ionescu, discreetly complete the atmosphere.

„"The Accusative Genre" is a vivid, unsettling and extremely current show. A family X-ray in which there are no heroes, only people in all their imperfection. There is a lot of laughter, but every laugh leaves traces. A play about the courage to say what hurts, about perspectives that change when you choose to listen – and about how, sometimes, the truth, told bluntly, can heal more than silence.

In the end, it must be said bluntly: The New Wave International Theatre Festival has become, through the perseverance of a few people dedicated to the profession, a true celebration of theatre in Reșița. Fortunately, they are joined by a professional technical team and a handful of committed volunteers, without whom the festival would not be able to complete each edition. Even if some of those working for Thalia do not appreciate this collective effort, what matters is that the theatre moves on – and the audience fully feels the joy of reuniting with the living miracle of the stage.

Maybe, just like in the show "The Accusative Genre", in real life, too, it is necessary, from time to time, for someone to call things by their proper names - so that people understand that their truths are not absolute. And this should naturally lead to a change in attitude, so that things return to normal. Slowly but surely.

Because the „truths” that build walls between people, that fragment resources and waste ideas, are not the ones worth defending. Sometimes, truth is not about being right, but about remaining open – to the other, to change, to the possibility that reality is bigger than your perspective.