Born on August 4, 1961, in Doroțcaia, Dubăsari district, in the Transnistria region (Republic of Moldova), Ion Sapdaru built his artistic training between two important cultural spaces. He graduated from the Theater Institute in Chișinău (1979–1983), continued his studies at the prestigious VGIK Institute of Cinematography in Moscow (1985–1989), and later pursued a master's degree in directing in the Russian capital.

His artistic career combines theater and film acting with directing and dramaturgy. He is an actor and director at the "Vasile Alecsandri" National Theater in Iași, but he has acted and directed on numerous important stages in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, including the Oradea Theater. In cinema, he has collaborated on representative productions of Romanian film, being awarded the Gopo Award in 2007 for the best actor, for the role in the film Was it or wasn't it?, directed by Corneliu Porumboiu. At the same time, his artistic vocation also manifested itself in the pedagogical field, working as a professor at the "George Enescu" University of Arts in Iași.

On the occasion of the new production "The Suitor" that he is staging at the Regina Maria Theater, Ion Sapdaru agreed to give us a short interview, in which he tells us a little about his artistic background, the show, and the reunion with the Oradea troupe.

Text taken from LiterNet.ro | author: Adrian Țion

The licentious language on stage spreads and expands like ringworm on velvety skin. Speech is filled with viruses, artistic consciousness is filled with amazement. Seniors reject the insolence of language, they vehemently detest it, embarrassed, disgusted. Young people adopt it and use it as a form of rebellion against all dogmas and coercive norms. But to use this filthy language, which has become the norm of juvenile arrogance (also a norm in reverse!), to penetrate the universe of feelings and emotions of today's teenagers, seems to me an act of extreme courage, violent and aesthetically unapproved, which breaks the patterns of theatrical convention into enough disapproving fragments. Obviously, I denounced my age, but also the rigor as a norm (another norm!) of evaluating the theatrical act.

Text taken from LiterNet.ro | author: Mihai Brezeanu

Petre Ghimbășan steps onto the stage, coming towards the audience. He walks around the empty frame/skeleton of the house that will keep shrinking throughout the show (scenography: Andreea Săndulescu) and looks at the spectators. Some don't even notice him. The lights in the hall are still on, the stage spotlights (lighting design: Cristian Niculescu) haven't entered their role yet. In fact, Petre Ghimbășan hasn't entered his role yet either. Only in a few moments will he gradually become Vania.

Interview taken from LiterNet.ro

Razvan Rocas: This is your first time staging a Chekhovian text. What has kept you away from it so far and what made you choose "Uncle Vanya"?
Cristian Ban: I feel like saying that youth. In recent years I have been rereading his texts and I have probably reached the point where I resonated with them the most. I remember that a few years ago, at a rehearsal, the actress Elena Popa asked me if I didn't want to play Chekhov because "I feel something" and I think she was right. I was fascinated by the rehearsals and the way this text challenged me as a director. I don't feel that it was difficult, I feel that it was intense.

Text taken from Family Magazine | author: Alexandru Jurcan

The snows of yesteryear are coming back, but the teenagers of yesteryear have dissipated in the labyrinth of inventions, taking advantage of scientific advances. Social networks, artificial intelligence. Goodbye, walks in nature, socializing under the sun! The virtual has won, like an evil drug. The reverse of focusing on the internet shows a pitiful tumble towards all kinds of dysfunctions. What does a necessary show mean, an explosive SOS? Exactly the premiere at the Regina Maria Theater in Oradea, that is awakening by Doru Vatavului, directed by Bobi Pricop. Assistant director: Mihai Gligan. A show dedicated to teenagers. Towards understanding, reorientation, awakening.

Text taken from Várad Magazine | author: Fried Noémi Lujza

show „"The Awakening"” was presented on January 17 and 18 by the Iosif Vulcan Troupe of the Regina Maria Theater in Oradea. The production, directed by Bobi Pricop based on a contemporary text by Doru Vatavlui, was followed, each time, by discussions between the creators and the audience.

The show has a double cast, so at the Sunday performance we saw, actor Sorin Ionescu addressed the audience before the start, warning that the play's language is vulgar and contains many English expressions — exactly as teenagers speak today. However, during the show, there are also moments that are more shocking than the vulgarity...

Mihai Gligan is a theater director from Cluj-Napoca, a graduate of the Faculty of Theater and Film at UBB, where he completed both his bachelor's and master's degrees. His directorial debut took place with the show "The Marriage" by NV Gogol, staged at the Baia Mare Municipal Theater, a production distinguished at the Atelier 2022 International Theater Festival with the Special Jury Award for Direction and the Award for Set Design.

In the following years, he signed and co-signed several projects noted for their artistic coherence and favorable reception in the contemporary theatrical environment. His first collaboration with the Oradea theater brought him the position of assistant director for the show "Dețeptarea" by Doru Vatavlui, produced under the stage direction of Bobi Pricop, a collaboration that was later continued by staging the comedy "Tenderness", as director.

On the occasion of this new project, Mihai Gligan agreed to answer a few questions about the universe and mechanisms of the show "Tenderness".

Text taken from LiterNet.ro | author: Cristina Smadea

To wake up... means to wake up from a night or day sleep, from a dream, from an illusion, from a state of laziness, from drunkenness, to understand what is happening around you or with you, opening the eyes of the body, mind, and soul.

We, humans, are dreamers by nature, consciously and unconsciously, and dreams are, very often, the result of our more or less hidden thoughts, of desires crammed into a pocket of the heart or a drawer of the mind. What separates us from animals is precisely this awakening, as an understanding of the meaning of the word MAN, and the result of this understanding is respect and love for your fellow human beings. Otherwise, we become beasts.

Text taken from Várad Magazine | author: Fried Noémi Lujza

It is clear that director Timofey Kulyabin, playwright Roman Dolzhansky and set designer Oleg Golovko have substantially intervened on Arthur Miller's drama "Broken Glass", and the music composed by Timofei Pastukhov proves excellent for maintaining high tension even during the short transitions between scenes. The connection between the Russian creators in European exile due to their anti-war positions and the Regina Maria Theater in Oradea was made by Raluca Rădulescu, the translator of the play. The result of the collaboration, the performance "Broken Mirror" by the Iosif Vulcan Troupe, was presented to the public for the first time on November 16, on the main stage of the Oradea theater. In fact, the American playwright's play was translated into Hungarian by Tamás Ungvári under the title "Üvegcserepek".

Denisa Irina Vlad is an actress of the Iosif Vulcan Troupe, who successfully capitalizes on her stage talent through strong roles and complements it with her inclination towards directing, preferring realistic texts, with complex characters and deep messages. On the occasion of the premiere of the show Năpasta by IL Caragiale, Denisa accepted our challenge to answer a few questions about the show and the characters, seen both through the eyes of the director and the actress.

Interview taken from LiterNet.ro

Queen Maria Theatre: You chose to stage in Oradea an adaptation of the text "Broken Glass", written by Arthur Miller towards the end of his career as a playwright, being a play perhaps less well-known than "Death of a Salesman" or "The Crucible", but with a great socio-political charge. What influenced you to make this choice and what do you feel is the greatest directorial potential of the text?
Roman Doljanski: I was in negotiations with the theater. It was commissioned… not this title, but it was commissioned by the theater; it was the theater's desire to choose a title from the American dramaturgy of the last century. Recently, I worked with another text by the great playwright Eugene O'Neill, in Sibiu, so, within this direction, the question arose about why it would be interesting to choose from American dramaturgy. Mainly, Eugene O'Neill; there is also Tennessee Williams, who is known everywhere, and Arthur Miller, who although he is an important playwright, is perhaps less known, and his presence in the theater repertoires – both globally and in Romania – is no longer as significant as it used to be. So the idea was for Arthur Miller to be the one suggested, but the choice for Broken Glass belonged to Timofei. My choice was the playwright, and the play was the director's choice.
Timofey Kuliabin: Yes, I chose this play because it is one of the author's last texts; it is not that well-known and not translated. Moreover, it is not translated into Romanian. It may not be the most well-known play, but it is interesting to me because it explores the family drama itself. There are only three main characters, and the play is a typical family drama, which is my direction. I like stories in which conflict arises between people with very close relationships — in this case, husband and wife. That is on the one hand. On the other hand, although it is a family drama, the play also touches on several very current social issues, such as the new ethics, the moral dilemmas of modern society or the new wave of anti-Semitism. Thus, it is not just a simple family drama, but also covers social issues that can be integrated into the same production.

Interview taken from LiterNet.ro

Toma Hogea is a complex creator: a puppeteer gifted with the joy of creating, who has performed hundreds of roles in numerous shows from different registers over time, an artistic director with a repertoire of high-quality shows that he has staged all over the country, author of essential volumes on the art of puppetry and professor at the University of Arts in Iași, a personality of animation theater, rewarded over time with numerous national and international awards for his artistic activity. On the occasion of the staging of the show Degețica, after Hans Christian Andersen, we invited him to a short discussion about animation theater, directing and the new project.

text taken from bookhub.ro / author: Adriana Stoica (grade 9 D, "BP Hasdeu" National College, Buzau)

The show that concluded the twelfth edition of the "Young Theatre Week" festival, organized by the "George Ciprian" Theatre in Buzău, was Carnival's gentlemen, a comedy by Ion Luca Caragiale, which came to life thanks to his direction Vlad Trifas, performed by the band from "Queen Maria" Theater, Oradea.

text taken from bookhub.ro / author: Bianca Ioana Lavinia Cazan (12th grade, CN "BP Hasdeu" Buzau)

The evening I saw the show D'ale carnavalului, directed by Vlad Trifaș, was one of those theatrical experiences that completely takes you out of your daily routine. Far from a simple retelling of the classic text, Trifaș manages to reinvent it, bringing it into the present through subtle but meaningful means.

text taken from bookhub.ro / author: Gabriel Nicolae (CN "Mihai Eminescu" Buzău)

The last show of the 12th edition of the Young Theatre Festival proved brilliant through the director's vision and the actors' performances, through the scenery and costumes. IL Caragiale's play, the director proves to us Vlad Trifas, is not dated. It can be brought without being essentially modified, with ingenuity, at the level of the message, into the deepest topicality.

Text taken from bookhub.ro / author: Ștefania-Emilia Bucur (grade 9 D, National College "BP Hasdeu" Buzău)

The last evening of the "Young Theatre Week" festival ended on an explosive note, full of humor and energy, with the staging of the play D'ale carnavalului by IL Caragiale, under the inspired direction of Vlad Trifaș. The hall was packed, the audience coming in large numbers to taste the delicious world of Caragiale, and laughter and applause resounded throughout the performance.

Text taken from bookhub.ro / author: Alexia Olteanu (12th grade, "Mihai Eminescu" Primary School Buzău)

Some shows don't end at the magical moment of the curtain falling, the lights going out. They remain in your mind, like an echo that follows you. This is also the case with the show D'ale carnavalului by Ion Luca Caragiale, directed by Vlad Trifaș – a show that makes you laugh, but also prompts reflection – among what people do we live?! in what way do we live?!

Interview taken from LiterNet.ro

„"Things I Know to be True" by Andrew Bovell, directed by Vlad Bălan, opened the 2025-2026 season of the "Regina Maria" Oradea Theater and is also one of those few shows that takes the risk of touching on areas that theater usually avoids.