"How, if not with immense regret, do we say goodbye to another colleague and dear friend? In recent years, George Voinese and Tiberiu Covaci have left us, and now, at the beginning of the season, Ion Ruscuț is leaving in great haste."

Ion came to Oradea after graduation and, lo and behold, he stayed in the theater, until his retirement years. He came then, a tall, handsome young man, full of vigor, talent and desire to assert himself. His teacher, director Zoe Anghel Stanca, introduced him, telling us how much she supported the Transylvanian who came to the exam to try his luck. She told us then, those in the theater, what it's like with talent and work on stage, with hard work, with dedication and luck. With the chance of the perfect meeting between the talent a young person is born with and what he adds to it later, through permanent preparation: readings, physical condition and mental contribution.

Heedful of the teacher's words, he began to play, carefully carving out episodic roles, but never going unnoticed on stage. Well-built, with a beautifully toned voice, Ion was destined for the roles of handsome young men. Who knows, maybe a few characters from the blue-hearted area awaited him... It was not to be. He stayed with small, but well-constructed roles. He recited the poems of St. Aug. Doinaș so beautifully, in a show famous for its uniqueness, he carefully constructed several characters under the careful professional advice of the late director Sergiu Savin, Alexandru Colpacci, Dan Alecsandrescu, Victor Ioan Frunză, Szombat Gille Otto.

But one day, blessed day, Ion found a new profession in the broad sphere of the performing arts: animated film, post-synchronization, etc. He played a lot, numerous characters that delighted and will continue to delight the little ones for a long time to come. To his characters, from the most different spheres, he added sensitivity and humor. A humor with which he delighted his colleagues, at rehearsals, bringing a smile to the sometimes tired faces of his colleagues. Young colleagues that he managed to bring under his professional umbrella, signing the post-synchronization direction of many films. It was his chance, as the teacher said…

Ion hurried to leave. In these last days, when he was losing the fight with life, let us imagine that he, a man of rare kindness, of a natural and elegantly imposed simplicity, of a special warmth of soul, of a generosity difficult to find in our fellow men, advises us not to forget the wise words of Ecclesiastes, not to cry, but to keep him in our hearts, as long as we can.

May his eternal sleep be smooth, like the breeze on the wing of Chekhov's seagull!"”

Elizabeth Pop,
theater critic and former literary secretary at the Regina Maria Theater