Arcadia Crew has the honor to invite you Saturday, March 9, from the time 11:30, at the Arcadia Hall, at the book launch "I was the puppet" - Theater Man Maria Mierluț", signed by Toma Hogea.

The author of the book, the teacher, the actor and the director will be present at the event. Toma Hogea and the filmologist, doctor of arts and university lecturer Violeta Tipa, who came from the Republic of Moldova especially for the launch. The moderator of the meeting will be the artistic secretary of TRM Florina Dometi.

volume The puppet was me – Theater man Maria Mierluț represents a final and supreme homage that actor and director Toma Hogea pays to the huge personality of Romanian animation theater and his friend, alike. Carefully chosen, the texts are a living and dignified testimony of what Maria Mierluț was, both as a puppeteer and as a person, the one whom the world loved, whom she esteemed and whose void is now so difficult to fill. On the one hand, the book represents a true archival document, gathering between its covers interviews of Maria Mierluț in various magazines, theater reviews from the shows she staged, as well as posters, program notebooks or sketches used throughout her career. Therefore, it is a must-read for anyone interested in animation theater, regardless of whether they are amateur or professional. On the other hand, it is an intimate confession of how the people she worked with perceived her, constituting a moving tribute to the one nicknamed "The Lady of Animation Theater".

Maria Mierluț was an actress and director of animated theater originally from Oradea. She studied philosophy at the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, but her love for theater pushed her to enroll in the courses of the Oradea Popular School, where she took classes with the great director Radu Penciulescu. In 1961, she entered, through a competition, the Puppet Theater in her hometown, where she worked until 1965. Later, she went to the Puppet Theater in Târgu Mureș, where she was both an actress-handler and an artistic director, experiencing a resounding success. Her thoughts always remained in Oradea and the theater in the city, confessing that she had the most "free and extraordinary" period in theater, which is why she always returned for different projects. In 2013, he was awarded the "Michaela Tonitza Iordache" Award for excellence in Romanian animation, for his entire artistic career.

Toma Hogea is an actor and director of animation theater from Romania. He graduated from the specialization "The Art of the Puppet and Marionette Actor" at the "George Enescu" Academy of Arts in Iași. As an actor, he debuted in 1978 on the stage of the "Mihai Eminescu" Theater in Botoșani, and as a director, he debuted in 2000 at the "Luceafărul" Theater for Children and Youth in Iași. In 2006, he obtained the title of doctor in performing arts at the "George Enescu" University of Arts in Iași, later becoming a university lecturer at the Department of Puppet and Marionette Manipulation within the same institution. For his work, he obtained several awards and distinctions both nationally and internationally.

 The launch will be preceded at 10:00 by the performance of the show "Red Riding Hood", staged in 2014 by Maria Mierluț.