The Regina Maria Theatre announces the premiere of the show "Deșteptarea", a contemporary text by Doru Vatavlui, directed by Bobi Pricop, which will take place on January 17 and 18, 2026, from 7:00 PM, in the theatre's Great Hall. The show is specifically dedicated to the adolescent audience, but is also addressed to parents, teachers and all those interested in how the digital world influences identity formation and relationships between generations.

The script of the show refers to the play "Spring Awakening" by German playwright Frank Wedekind through its title and proposes a story with similar themes, but completely new, for today, focused on the virtual identities of teenagers. During the research period within the text development process, Doru Vatavului collected the experiences, stories and real problems of the young people involved in the project, some of which were adapted into the text.

This is how the story of Amalia, a 16-year-old teenager, a student at a prestigious high school, caught between the need for validation, the pressure to perform and the invisible violence of the online environment was outlined. The announcement of her qualification for the national stage of the Romanian Olympiad sparks an avalanche of reactions, but not on the high school page, but in the unmoderated and uncontrollable parts of the internet – culminating in a compromising image that begins to circulate among her colleagues and on the city's gossip pages. Amalia is suffocated by the consequences: shame, isolation, verbal aggression, public stigmatization, distrust from adults and the inability of institutions to intervene. The play, written for teenagers and performed by teenagers alongside their real parents, follows the collective reactions of her colleagues, families and teachers, revealing a social mechanism in which responsibility is diluted and blame is constantly shifted. Built as a polyphony of digital voices and intimate confessions, "The Awakening" is an X-ray of adolescence in the age of social media and artificial intelligence, a show about losing control over one's own image, about the fragility of identity, about how thin the line between real and fabricated is when technology becomes a weapon, and about what happens when maturation takes place more in the cloud than in the body.

A defining element of the show is the cast made up of teenagers, members of the youth troupe created by Bobi Pricop a year ago, which operates in parallel with the „Iosif Vulcan” Troupe. The project involves approximately 20 teenagers aged between 14 and 18, seven of whom have been cast in roles, and the others appear through video interventions integrated into the stage construction. Some of the teenagers involved in the project play alongside their real parents, actors of the „Iosif Vulcan” Troupe, which adds an additional level of authenticity to the show and strains the relationships between generations right within the artistic act.

The show "The Awakening" is built as a cinema-like experience, in which the action takes place almost entirely on a screen. The digital world of teenagers becomes the main space of the show, and interactions take place in online conversations, Instagram groups and live streams, visible to the audience in real time. The actors and teenagers are not on stage in a conventional way, but among the spectators, and the feeds and phone cameras become dramaturgical tools. The language used is the authentic one of today's teenagers: short messages, abbreviations, reactions, memes and gifs.

In parallel with the rehearsals and premiere of the show, the Regina Maria Theatre is running digital education campaign #desteptarea, associated with the "Awakening" project, aimed at informing and empowering adolescents, parents and teachers about the real risks of digital manipulation. The campaign addresses, in accessible language, what a deepfake is, how it can be created, why distributing a fake image represents a form of violence even when it is "not real" and what emotional and legal consequences it can have. Through materials published on the theater's social media channels, the campaign aims to provide concrete tools for reaction: what to do if you receive a deepfake, how to stop distribution, how to report and how you can support a victim. The initiative complements the artistic approach of the show, extending it into a process of education and dialogue necessary in a constantly changing digital context.

Theater is a place where we can have difficult conversations about things that might not otherwise find a place at home or school. Frank Wedekind's "Spring Awakening" caused a huge scandal in its time because it talked about sexuality, confusion, subtle violence. Wedekind sounded the alarm: silence costs, especially in adolescence. 135 years later, taboo topics have changed in appearance, but the mechanism is the same. Today it is no longer just about what happens in teenagers' bodies, but also about what happens on phones, in private conversations, in groups, in digital spaces where teenagers live a significant part of their lives. I hope that our show will bring us closer to understanding and being with the new generations. Without judging them or comparing them to us, without being moralizing or lecturing them, but with a real desire to listen. Theater offers us this privilege: to watch together, to understand, to feel, and only then to speak. – Bobi Pricop

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The cast includes teenagers Anastasia Vicoveanu, Robert Balint/Filip Ionescu, Rebeca Rusu, Dania Uifaluși, Benjamin Kendi, Tudor Neagu, along with the actors of the "Iosif Vulcan" Troupe Adela Lazar, Richard Balint/Sorin Ionescu, Alina Leonte, Răzvan Vicoveanu and Alexandru Rusu. 

Directed by: Bobi Pricop
Music & Videoart: iRonic Distors
Assistant Director: Mihai Gligan
Motion Graphic: Bogdan Țolea
Video Programming: Constantin Șimon
Video Operation: Sergiu Domide
High school actor coordinator: Cosmin Petruț
Psychologist – consultant: Dr. Ioana Drugaș

Special guests – video appearances: Silviu Faiăr, Really Rux, Sabina Teodora, Alex Zlăvog, Pete Line

Video appearances: Larisa Neguriță, Boldis Raisa Alexia Gabriela, Ilinca Rusu Maria, Butuc Sofia-Elena, Olșac Kristina Maria Angelina, Popa Teodora Ștefania, Ghizdavu Amelia – Diandra, Ana Irina Bologan, Merca Marina Ioana, Vulcu Vlad Andrei, Nistor Andrei, Manolescu Emanuel Sergiu Dumitru, Seica Rareș Andrei

Show recommended for people over 15 years old!
Premiere date: January 17 and 18, Great Hall of the Regina Maria Theater in Oradea

Tickets can be purchased from the theater agency or online at www.poftimcultura.ro.
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Invitation to discussion: Panel_TABU – Silences that cost teenagers

Before the premiere, the dialogue proposed by "The Awakening" extends beyond the stage through "Panel_TABU – Silences that Cost Adolescents", a related event designed as a space for open discussion, which will take place on Friday, January 16, 2026, from 3:00 PM, in the Great Hall of the Regina Maria Theater.

The event is organized by the Regina Maria Theater, in partnership with the Bihor County School Inspectorate and Drugaș` Club and is dedicated to open dialogue about sensitive but essential topics for the emotional health and development of adolescents.

In a society where many important topics remain unspoken or avoided, this panel aims to create a safe space for conversation and reflection between teachers, parents and students, focusing on the need for honest and responsible communication. The event encourages real collaboration between school, family and community, in response to the increasingly complex challenges of adolescence.

The panel will feature representatives of local institutions, the Regina Maria Theater and the Bihor County School Inspectorate, along with school psychologists and specialists in theater and the organization of educational events, who will approach the topic from complementary perspectives - educational, emotional, cultural and community:

• Mihaela Michailov – playwright, co-founder of the Replika Educational Theater Center, teacher at UNATC "IL Caragiale", moderator of the "Panel_TABU" event„
• Alin Serafim Stefanuț – general school inspector, ISJ Bihor
• Victoria Balint – Interim Manager, Regina Maria Theater
• Bobi Pricop – director, manager of the "Iosif Vulcan" Troupe of the Regina Maria Theater
• Ioana Drugas – school psychologist, doctor of educational sciences
• Doru Vatavu – playwright
• Andra Mureșan – cultural journalist, Scena9

The panel is specifically aimed at high school principals, who are invited to participate accompanied by a parent and a student from their class, in order to stimulate intergenerational dialogue and the exchange of perspectives. Teachers will receive a certificate of participation, and their registration is done by filling out the form available here: https://forms.gle/ed9rA6cPycNUmJqz5 

The event is also open to the general public – consisting of parents, teenagers, but also all those interested in these topics – and proposes a necessary meeting, which opens uncomfortable but vital conversations about adolescence, vulnerability, limits and responsibility.

Access is free within the limit of available places.