Today is the birthday of our colleague, actor Ciprian Ciuciu. On the occasion of his birthday, he gave us a short interview in which he revealed a few things about his destiny in theater and the passions that have guided his path so far.

Collaborator of the Regina Maria Theater since his first year of college, Ciprian Ciuciu has had the curiosity, openness and initiative to take on his passions since adolescence. From go-karting, numismatics and archaeology, to painting icons on glass, poetry and theater, Ciprian has "tested" every hobby. In the 11th grade he realized that acting could be more than a hobby, it could be a profession. After taking acting classes at the Children's Palace in Oradea, Ciprian enrolled in the Pygmalion courses and received confirmation from the teachers that he was on a possible path.  „"I always wanted to make a living doing something I loved. When I discovered that theater could be more than a passion, it seemed like the perfect recipe. Against many rational thoughts, I chose to become an actor. I knew I wouldn't get rich, but I knew I would be happy"”, Ciprian recalls. Just three weeks after starting his first year of college, he had his first casting, in the show The Merry Wives of Windsor, under the stage direction of Victor Ioan Frunză. A promising collaboration with the institution on whose stage he still plays today. "„It helped me that I collaborated with the theater during my student years, because the rehearsals were like a kind of classes for me, and the actors were my influential teachers"”, says Cypris.

He found his professional path, he found fulfillment with his wife, Melu, but he did not stop building his perfect picture of happiness, which each of us completes, throughout life, step by step. This is how he ended up starting a courageous and original project: the creation, with his own strength, of a natural house. "The idea was to be happy. And happiness could also be translated into having what is necessary and enjoying what you have"„, the young man explains. „"Why a natural house? Declick started from the idea of having no garbage. I was looking at the container in front of my parents' house and I asked myself the question: What happens to the garbage and why do we have to produce two cubic meters of garbage every month? I asked myself what I was doing in this sense and how necessary it was to do what I was doing. Basically, I challenged my actions. Then I asked myself how I could stop feeding something that shouldn't exist. And that's how I ended up making compost."”, Ciprian remembers. „"I had no doubt that I would build a house. That's how my grandfather did it, that's how my father did it. What I assumed through this project was the character of the house. To be in harmony with nature. To have an edible landscape, not just beautiful. To be able to be self-sustaining from as many points of view as possible"”, says the actor. That's how it was born, with the help of family and friends, "a small, round house made of straw bales"„. It has photovoltaic panels, a plot of land where vegetables and trees have "grown", dogs and cats that live freely. The straw bales were plastered with earth, the interior walls are built of wattle and daub and bricks made from wine bottles, the roof lets in sunlight and moonlight, and the clay floor is decorated with replicas of burdock leaves, modeled in cement, colored, and coated in resin. Every spring and every summer for the last four years has been dedicated to this project, which is far from finished. After the completion of the small house, the big one, the family home, follows.

And the projects don't stop there. Ciprian leads a workshop on "Knowledge and Self-Knowledge through Theater", convinced that dramatic art can play an important role in personal development. He also believes that theater, and the actors implicitly, offer new perspectives to every spectator who crosses its threshold. His favorite line was spoken in the show Biloxi Blues.

„"-Sergeant, What the hell did your father teach you??

"Not much, sir, just two things: dignity and compassion."”

And his wish for his anniversary is very simple: to be loved.

Happy birthday, Cyprus!