Set designer painter

Date and place of birth: 25.09.1934, Căpeni

Studies: "Ion Andreescu" Institute of Fine Arts, Cluj, 1960

Valuable set designer and painter Bíró I.Géza was, for many years (1970-1991), a reliable collaborator of the directors with whom he worked at the two sections of the Oradea State Theatre. Both at the Hungarian and the Romanian sections, Bíró I.Géza constantly proposed scenographic solutions aimed at providing quick staging – either for travel and tours, or to not excessively charge the costs of the performances. The hired set designers, we admit, were always the first to be sacrificed, asked, in other words, to understand and „go to savings”.

Usually, Bíró I.Géza only signed the sets, signing costumes only in a few cases. He was, what can be called, a kind of stage architect, thinking in spatial-artistic dimensions, with care for detail and building, more than once, models of great beauty. It is true that a play like "Invisible Epaulettes" by Silvia Andreescu and Theodor Mănescu, "lacking artistic coherence", could not inspire him, on the other hand his fantasy was well highlighted in shows like: "A funeral party" by Pierre Chesnot, "A kidney stone" by Paul Everac. Together with Alexandru Colpacci they created an admirable show with Dumitru Solomon's play, "Diogenes the dog", the simplicity, the elegance, referring to the "strong area of ideas", the set contributing to the success of the show - one of Alexandru Colpacci's first valuable shows in Oradea. The beautiful and balanced decor of the show "The Ark of Good Hope" contributed to its success; during a tour in Bucharest, the show was praised by all the Romanian critics. The artistic success was everyone's: the author, the talented IDSîrbu, the director Szombati Gille Otto, the set designer and all the performers, led by the emeritus artist Dorel Urlăţeanu. He thought up a scenographic setting of a certain ingenuity, together with Sergiu Savin, for a difficult text, "The Duck's Head" by G. Ciprian. Another, metaphorical, humorous and of a certain efficiency, was the one for the children's show "Crystal Heart" by Lev Ustinov.

(Presentation by Eugen Ţugulea)