Actress

Date and place of birth: 13.03.1924, Birtin-Brad

Olimpia Mâinea came to the Oradea State Theatre together with her husband at the time, the actor Ion Mâinea, from the Dramatic Theatre in Baia-Mare. If Ion Mâinea was, from the very beginning of his career, destined for big roles, becoming, over time, a genuine star, a master, Olimpia Mâinea was an actress destined, especially, for secondary roles. Tall, blonde, buxom, extroverted, with impeccable diction and a very good memory, the actress lacked the capacity for interiorization, perhaps also because, being an intelligent woman, she refused to be confused with the characters she interpreted, maintaining, continuously imposing, between herself and them, a distance, often confused with coldness and indifference. Being "a beautiful animal" - as she herself admitted - she played several "beautiful" roles in her youth. In Brăila, where she played for several years, she was a colleague and friend of Vasilica Tastaman and Silviu Stănculescu. She played several important, long-lasting roles, but, unfortunately, she was not convincing, failing to pass an average level. Let's remember: Chiriţa and Veta ("A Stormy Night" by ILCaragiale), Luise ("Everything in the Garden" by Edward Albee), Gina ("The Dictator" by Al. Kiriţescu) Didina ("Confusing the World" by A.de Herz).

Actor

Date and place of birth: 23.09.1929, Bucharest

Studies: "ILCaragiale" Theater Institute, Bucharest, class of Prof. Marcel Anghelescu

With certainty, Ion Mâinea was, along with two or three colleagues, for many years, in fact until his regrettable final departure, what is called a star (even if not recognized as such), a master, an authentic artist in all the power of the word.

He joined the Oradea State Theatre in 1966, and remained there until his retirement, acting for many years and then, in his last years of life, being a collaborating director at the "Arcadia" Children and Youth Theatre in Oradea.

Actress

Date and place of birth: 04.02.1947, Bucharest

Studies: Institute of Theatrical and Cinematographic Art "ILCaragiale" Bucharest, 1966

She was assigned to Oradea, together with her husband, and was cast in the role of Daniela Buzura in the play "Simple coincidences" by Paul Everac. She declared herself dissatisfied with the casting and they returned to the capital (she collaborated and continues to collaborate with the Radiophonic Theater). She played for several more years in theaters in Brăila, Braşov and Botoşani. A sensitive reciter and connoisseur of good poetry, Marina, together with her husband Mihai, were partners in several poetry performances, and not only that, Mihai seriously flirting with theater directing.

(Presentation by Eugen Ţugulea)

Artistic director

Date and place of birth: 07.04.1971, Ungheni

Studies: National College of Arts in Soroca (Republic of Moldova), acting and directing departments. In 1992 he obtained a scholarship at the Bucharest Academy of Theatre and Film. In 1995 he played at the Small Theatre in Cătălina Buzoianu's play, "The Seagull" by A.P. Chekhov, being also the second director. He then signed important plays: "The Emigrants" by Slawomir Mrožek and "The Night Shelter" by Maxim Gorki. Graduate of the Bucharest Academy of Theatre and Film, Specialization: Theatre Directing, Class of Prof. Univ. Cristian Hadji-Culea.

1998-2001: Academic staff (assistant professor - researcher), Ecological University of Bucharest, Faculty of Arts, Department of Acting

2005-2008: PhD student, University of Theatre and Cinematography "ILCaragiale", Faculty of Theatre

Actor

Date and place of birth: 24.01.1977, Balti, Republic of Moldova

Studies: Moldovan Institute of Arts, Faculty of Acting, Theater and Film, 1997, class of prof. Victor Ciutac 

Igor Lungu came to Oradea in 1999, from the Republic of Moldova, together with several colleagues, young graduates of the Theater and Film School of the Republic of Moldova. The young actor attracted attention from the beginning with his liveliness, energy and immense and sincere joy of acting. Regardless of the roles (episode, small or main), Igor Lungu knew how to add to his characters, in addition to the data given by the authors or those that naturally arise from the director's vision, his own data, his own creative capacity. Which is why each of the characters he played has an original touch. His Apolodor (both on the stage of the Oradea State Theater and after his reprise on the stage of the Arcadia Oradea Theater) was a character full of life, humor and tenderness, which is why children loved him very much, becoming, for a while, their favorite character.

Actress

Date and place of birth: 12.06.1953, Bucharest

Studies: Institute of Theater and Cinematography "ILCaragiale" Bucharest, 1981, class of Prof. Petrică Vasilescu 

At the Institute she played several extremely demanding and demanding roles, at the same time; we only mention Ziţa in "A Lost Letter" by IL Caragiale, Ioana in "Saint Joan" by GB Shaw or Sonia in "Uncle Vanya" by AP Chekhov, or in Tompa Gábor's directing class: Mira ("Master Manole" by Lucian Blaga), Alla ("Tango" by Slawomir Mrožek), Winnie ("Oh, les beaux jours" by Samuel Beckett). She played a leading role in the film "The Bride on the Train" (script by DR Popescu, artistic direction: Lucian Bratu), a role for which she was praised by film critics.

Actress

Studies: Institute of Theatrical and Cinematographic Art "ILCaragiale" Bucharest, 1955

After a short trip to Galaţi, where she had been assigned, she passed through Oradea, hoping to obtain a place in a Bucharest theater, alongside her husband. In two seasons, she played eight roles, four of which were main ones, capitalizing on her artistic sensitivity in particular.

He returned to the capital, where…

(Presentation by Eugen Ţugulea)

Set designer painter

Date and place of birth: 31.01.1959, Bucharest

Studies: "Nicolae Grigorescu" Institute of Fine Arts, Bucharest, 1981, teachers: Vasile Roman, Traian Niţescu, Dan Jitianu

Marie Jeanne Lecca got a job at the State Theatre in Oradea after, while still a student of scenography, she designed the set for a successful show by the very young director Victor Ioan Frunză, the costumes for "Umbra" by Evgheni Şvarţ (Piatra Neamţ Youth Theatre), "Peer Gynt" (Iaşi Opera). In Bucharest, at the Small Theatre, she designed the set for an important show by Cătălina Buzoianu: "Ivona, Princess of Burgundy" by Witold Gombrowicz (with Leopoldina Bălănuţă, Mitică Popescu, Rodica Negrea, Florin Călinescu, etc.)

Set designer painter

Date and place of birth: 29.03.1973, Beiuş

Studies: "Ion Andreescu" Academy of Arts, Cluj-Napoca - Painting Department, 1997, prof. Andor Kőmíves, Nicolae Man

Camelia Köteles Panait came to the Oradea Theatre in 1999, and worked as a set designer for only two seasons. At first, she assisted set designer Vioara Bara on the show “Despre sexul femeii…” by Matei Vişniec, directed by Petru Vutcărău. Her drawings, very careful sketches and serious documentation have also entitled other directors to collaborate with her. If in the shows “Bună seara domnule Wilde” (by Oscar Wilde) or “Slugă la doi stăpăndi” (by Carlo Goldoni) the sets were thoroughly related to the subject, in full harmony with the director’s vision, in “Gaiţele” (by Al. Kiriţescu) it seems that she also accepted some ideas imposed by the director, in total disagreement with his ideas about the well-known comedy. An untimely, forced modernization seemed “an artificial graft”, lacking precisely the comic element. It has even been stated that the director imposed a Chekhovian over-theme on the comedy.

Actor

Date and place of birth: 24.04.1927, Chisinau

Coming together with his wife, actress Viorica Cernucan, he quickly became one of the most used actors, and not in just any role. Endowed with an imposing physique and a powerful voice, he created several characters that remained in the memory of the audience: Mircea Aldea in "Gaiţele" by Tudor Muşatescu, Pietro Gralla in "Act venețian" by Camil Petrescu or Alexandru Manea in "Visul unei nopți de ianră" by Tudor Muşatescu. After three seasons, he transferred to the National Theatre of Timişoara, where, for a period, he was also the director of the institution. In "Tartuffe" (by Molière) he opted – not without controversy – for a less hypocritical character, imposing himself through an aggressiveness that scandalized some. It was, however, an original approach… In "Act venețian" (by Camil Petrescu) however (both shows directed by Marietta Sadova), he was Pietro Gralla, a leading role of great scope and responsibility. "He had – writes a chronicler – a convincing monumentality and a thirst for the absolute". To Alexandru Manea ("A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Tudor Muşatescu), on the other hand, he gave sensitivity and poetry.

(Presentation by Eugen Ţugulea)

Artistic director

Date and place of birth: 08.01.1968, Bucharest

Studies: Bucharest Academy of Theatre and Film, 1997

From the very beginning of his artistic activity, the young Cristian Juncu has proven to be a total artist, making a special figure in the world of Romanian theater: he writes plays, translates, adapts and, of course, directs. Both his talent and his energy, the ability to approach a dramatic work from multiple angles, are to be appreciated. Unfortunately, in Oradea he probably did not find the right framework for his… multilateral development. In 2004 he began by translating and adapting the well-known text by Isaac B. Singer, "Netotu'", also directing, of course. The actor Marius Damian was well guided, he delivered the monologue deliciously.

Actor

Date and place of birth: 02.07.1944, Lugoj

Studies: Institute of Theater and Cinematography "ILCaragiale" Bucharest, 1974, class of prof. Moni Ghelerter, Zoe Anghel Stanca and George Carabin 

Assigned to Oradea, he had fifty-five appearances in the fifteen seasons, among which quite a few were difficult roles of great artistic responsibility. With a particular "what" in his stage appearances and in life, he was an interesting presence, like a splash of color in all his stage appearances. After the 1989 revolution, he transferred to the National Theatre in Timişoara, where he played until his retirement. In a show of "great visual accuracy" ("The Horse in the Senate" by Leonid Andreev), Laurian Jivan played with strength and great, immense dedication, and in "The Change of Face" by GM Zamfirescu, in a leading role (Brană), managing to give birth to a subtle character with infinite faces... He was a Venticello - a very suitable partner in tandem with a great actor: Nicolae Toma -, both having humor and a special mystery.

(Presentation by Eugen Ţugulea)

Actress

Date and place of birth: 04.07.1943, Oradea

Studies: Institute of Theatre and Cinematography "ILCaragiale" Bucharest, 1966

Debuting in cinema while still a student, she arrived in the theater a few years after graduating from college - in the meantime appearing in important roles in several films. On the Oradea stage, she demonstrated her talent in several leading roles: Ara in "The Ark of Good Hope" by I.D. Sârbu, Cleopatra in "Caesar and Cleopatra" by G.B. Shaw, Eliza in "Madame Sans-Gêne" by Victorien Sardou and Émile Moreau, or Zerbinette in "The Cunning of Scapin" by Molière. At the beginning of 1980, she left, together with her husband, Liviu Rozorea, for Germany. In the role of Jenny in "Everything in the Garden" (by Edward Albee), under the careful guidance of Marietta Sadova, Elisabeta Jar created a complex role – of the distinguished lady who prostitutes herself in a luxury brothel… She plays it with talent and a special sense of duplicity. By contrast, in Ara, on the other hand ("The Ark of Good Hope" by IDSîrbu), she is pure, angelic, gorgeous.

(Presentation by Eugen Ţugulea)

Actress

Date and place of birth: 03.05.1968, Constanta

Studies: "Luceafărul" Academy of Arts, Faculty of Theater, class of professors Florian Pittiş, Florin Zamfirescu.

Beautiful, slim, with a wasp waist and green eyes, Roxana Ivanciu attracted, since her arrival in the Oradea troupe, both the attention of the directors and the visible sympathy of the audience. Her attire and figure recommended her for both dramatic and comedic roles. She would soon prove that she had the ability to successfully cover all registers. Proof that, in the same season, she interpreted with the charm of youth, a little girl (Alice) in the show "Across Seven Seas and Seven... Fairy Tales" by Gheorghe Stana and the Fairy of the Lake, but also a successful composition (Baba Rada) in the show "Sânziana and Pepelea" by Vasile Alecsandri. She was not only "a splash of color", but also a surprising appearance in a character invented by the director, in the show "The Chairs" by Eugen Ionescu. About her role – a girl the actress's age – in the show "Hollywood Story" by Neil Simon, a columnist wrote that she was not only easygoing, but also warm, naive, childish enough, in a happy artistic couple with the maestro Ion Mâinea, who played the role of the Father and at the same time directed the show. Mircea Morariu saw in her "a promising actress".

Actress

Date and place of birth: 12.03.1972, Sânnicolaul Mare, Timiş County

Studies: "Luceafărul" Academy of Arts, Bucharest, 1995, class of Professor Constantin Dicu

A graduate of the Faculty of Theatre, Loredana came, through a competition, to the State Theatre of Oradea, in 1995. She is part of the category – not very often found in theatre – of actors who move easily, but also with the same nonchalance and joy of acting, with the same interest, from big, important roles, to small roles, or even to figuration. They do so with the conviction that any new stage appearance, no matter how tiny it may seem, certainly contributes, as a precious experience, to the stature of the future actor.

Actress

Date and place of birth: 11.11.1929, Gyula, Hungary

Studies: Cluj Theater Institute – three years, completed at the "ILCaragiale" Institute of Theater and Cinematography, Bucharest, 1959

She was selected from among the amateur actors who constituted the nucleus on which the Romanian section of the Oradea theater was structured, in 1955. In the nineteen seasons spent in Oradea, she played about seventy roles, both main and secondary, marked by seriousness and dedication, some even creations: (Lenea from "TALES FROM THE GOLDEN FOREST" by Valentin Avrigeanu" or Smeraldina from "Servant of Two Masters" by Carlo Goldoni and others), then she transferred to the Theater in Satu Mare, where she married the director Mihai Raicu, with whom she moved to the National Theater in Timişoara. Cheerful, optimistic, endowed with contagious energy and sensual beauty, Doina Ioja infused her characters with a lot of her own qualities. Which is why she was offered more comedic roles or, in any case, female warriors – like Rose, for example, in "The Recruiting Officer" by George Farquhar or the Wife in "The Disappearance of Galy Gay" by Bertolt Brecht.

(Presentation by Eugen Ţugulea)

Artistic director

Date and place of birth: 15.12.1950

Studies: Institute of Theatre and Cinematography "ILCaragiale" Bucharest, acting department (class of Prof. Radu Penciulescu) and directing (class of Prof. Octavian Cotescu), 1975

Actor and director, director of the Satu-Mare North Theatre and the Târgu Mureş National Theatre, Cristian Ioan directed the Oradea Theatre for a year, combining two management positions: an experiment, a premiere for Romanian theatre, which would perhaps have borne fruit if the authorities had provided him with a house to live in. The director staged both comedies and dramas in the theatres he directed, but also in others, as a guest. His performance of the difficult play “A Princely Celebration” by Theodor Mazilu was unanimously appreciated by the specialist press. With a keen sense of humour, he began to stage – well! – comedies, and was soon billed as a “comedy director”. As he himself admits, staging a comedy is much more difficult than a drama.

Actor

Date and place of birth: 11.01.1930, Bucharest

Studies: Faculty of Mathematics in Bucharest

He came to Oradea, brought from the National Theatre "ILCargiale" Bucharest by the director Radu Penciulescu, the actor - an intelligent and sociable guy - easily integrated into the collective where he stayed for seven seasons, playing thirty-five roles, including: Montserrat from the play of the same name by Emanuel Roblès, Ştefan Vardia from "Nota zero la purtare" by Virgil Stoenescu and Octavian Sava, or Tomovici from "Ziariştii" by Al.Mirodan. Then, he returned to the capital, becoming... a university professor of mathematics - his great passion. (Presentation by Eugen Ţugulea)