Even though some have already gone on vacation, the entire staff of the Regina Maria Theater is on the barricades! They are intensively rehearsing the projects that will appear in the fall, in the Short Theater Festival and in the new season.

Three premieres at the Great Hall

So, it is repeated for the show EQUUS (by Peter Shaffer), under the artistic direction of Szabo K. Istvan, the show that will open this year's 18th Edition of the FTS (on September 23). The cast includes the beloved actors: Richard Balint, Ciprian Ciuciu, Alina Vicoveanu, Suzana Macovei, Corina Cernea, Petre Ghimbăşan, Sebastian Lupu, Angela Tanko and the choir includes: Răzvan Vicoveanu, Pavel Sîrghi, Denisa Vlad, Mihaela Gherdan and Dania Ţinca (a new collaborator of the Iosif Vulcan Troupe). Ovidiu Iloc will be in charge of the musical illustration, the choreography is by Mălina Andrei. The sets will be made by Mira Janos Tamas (Hungary), and the costumes bear the signature of the Oradea artist Vioara Bara.

On Friday, June 15, rehearsals began for the show TIME IS COMING SOON (by Line Knutzon), under the artistic direction of Radu Afrim, set design by Cristina Milea, a show with which the Regina Maria Theatre will participate in the competition section of this year's Short Theatre Festival. The cast includes: Liliana Ghiţă (guest actress from the "Maria Filotti" Theatre in Brăila), Richard Balint, Pavel Sîrghi, Ioana Dragoş-Gajdo, Ioana Dagău and Mirela Corbeanu.

Also this fall, the premiere of the show BORDEL (by Gabriel Barylli) will take place, the first co-production with a foreign theater: the Regina Maria Theater will collaborate with the Pygmalion Theater in Vienna. It is a first project of the Oradea theater that, we hope, will open the way to many other collaborations with theaters abroad. The show is a two-character show, directed by Geirun Tino and will be performed both in Oradea and Vienna, with the cast including Daniel Vulcu, Georgia Căprărin (for the Oradea show – a new collaborator of the Arcadia Troupe) and Julia Prock-Schauer (for the Viennese one).

Two premieres at Arcadia Hall

Rehearsals for the show END OF THE GAME (by Samuel Beckett), directed by the actor of the Iosif Vulcan Troupe, Emil Sauciuc, with a cast consisting of: Petre Ghimbăşan, Şerban Borda, Tiberiu Covaci and Mirela Lupu, along with a team of figures formed by the Theatre's volunteers, have ended. The set design was done by Vioara Bara, and the musical illustration also belongs to Emil Sauciuc. The premiere of this show is scheduled to take place in the fall, immediately after the Short Theatre Festival.

And at the Arcadia Troupe we announce a premiere, a show made entirely with the help of puppets, something that has not happened in Oradea for a very long time – the show ALBĂ CA ZĂPADA (adaptation from the Brothers Grimm), directed by Traian Savinescu, and the scenography belongs to Mihai Pastramagiu. Among the actors of the Arcadia Troupe who will play, alongside the puppets: Georgia Căprărin, Florian Silaghi, Andrei Fazecaș, Alexandru Pop, Florin Stan, Rin Tripa, Igor Lungu, Mirela Corbeanu, Marlena Prigoreanu, Zentania Lupșe and Ioana Dagău.

A premiere in an unconventional space

On the last hundred meters are also the rehearsals for the show PHANTOM PAINS (by Vasilii Sigariov), under the artistic direction of Bogdan Huşanu, a show-event that will be played in a tram from the OTL tram depot. The scenography belongs to Ianis Vasilatos, and the cast includes Mihaela Gherdan, Pavel Sîrghi and Alexandru Rusu, and the premiere is also scheduled for autumn.

As for the Short Theatre Festival, its 18th edition, it will take place between September 23-30, and will contain, as we have become accustomed to, the three performance sections (competition performances, major invited performances and the pub and street theatre section), as well as the dramaturgy competition, organized in collaboration with Familia Magazine.