The Cultural Foundation "Oradea International Theatre Festival", in partnership with the Regina Maria Theatre, is running the "(a)LIVE" project. The project obtained funding within the 2nd funding session granted by the National Cultural Fund Administration, for the Performing Arts-Theatre area.

"The main theme of the project is The digital generation under the impact of terror and illustrates the progressive emotional vulnerability of adolescents and young adults, exposed to the fear of death in a continuous form, starting from the pandemic threat and continuing with that of the war in Ukraine", explains Andreea Costea, the project manager.

The first part of the project took place in July and August and included the organization of psychodrama workshops supported by psychologist Ioana Drugaș, school counselor at Don Orione High School in Oradea. The main theme of the workshops was fear, with an emphasis on the fear of death, intensified in recent years by the crises that have swept the world. The goal of these workshops was to exorcise the traumas caused by external threats, especially the fear of death, in order to help young people discover new answers and methods to face the challenges raised by anxiety. 30 high school students and students participated, along with actors from the Regina Maria Theater.

The second part of the project involves the creation of a theater performance on the theme of anxiety, inspired by real stories, collected during the pre-documentation period by a journalist from Romania and one from the Republic of Moldova, and from the documentation carried out with the support of the psychologist involved in the project. The resulting performance will combine the perspectives of young Ukrainian, Romanian and Moldovan people, who have experienced the pandemic and, later, the war, connected virtually with the tragedy that struck Ukraine.

The text and direction of the show will be signed by Gabriel Sandu, a transdisciplinary artist, author of shows who works as a director, playwright, journalist and performer, with notable results on both the local and European stage. He has won several national and international awards and residencies, and his plays have been translated into English, French, Portuguese, Hungarian, German and Catalan.

Rehearsals for the show will begin in October at the Regina Maria Theater. The premiere will take place in Oradea, followed by a tour of the show in Baia Mare, Zalău, Cluj-Napoca, Carei and Bucharest. In order to delve deeper into the subject, but also to open a direct dialogue with the young people in the audience and provide support by presenting new perspectives on the problems they face, after each performance there will be Q&A sessions, mediated by a psychologist and by the actors in the cast.

„"The importance of such a project is given both by approaching a current social issue in an innovative and non-formal educational manner, and by creating a real dialogue between theater creators and the young audience, through their direct involvement in the creative process," added the project manager.

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