Roman Doljanski is a theater critic, curator, and playwright of Russian origin. Since 2022, he has been working exclusively outside his homeland, becoming one of the best experts on international theater in Europe.

In 1993, he completed his studies at the Russian Institute of Theatrical Arts (GITIS) in Moscow, and five years later he became co-founder and artistic director of the NET (New European Theatre) Festival, an event that introduced a significant number of European directors and theatre companies to the Russian public. In parallel, from 2006 to 2022, he coordinated "Territoria" - the International Festival-School of Contemporary Art, the first multidisciplinary project of such scope in Russia, bringing together theatre, dance, film, visual arts and music in an educational framework dedicated to young creators. During the same period, he was director and chief playwright of the Theatre of Nations, one of the most innovative theatre institutions in the country.

Throughout his entire career in his native country, Doljanski worked as a theater journalist at the daily newspaper "Kommersant", where he published approximately 4,000 articles, reviews, interviews and essays on Russian, European theater and contemporary arts, thus significantly marking the evolution of contemporary theater criticism in Russia.

Playwright's work in Europe

Throughout his career, he has collaborated as a playwright with prominent figures of contemporary theater, such as John Malkovich, Thomas Ostermeier, Alvis Hermanis, Robert Wilson, Robert Lepage, Stéphane Braunschweig, Timofey Kuliabin, Maxim Didenko and many others. Also as a playwright, he was invited to prestigious institutions such as Schauspielhaus Zürich, Deutsches Theater Berlin, Dailes Theater and the Russian Theater "Mikhail Chekhov" in Riga, the National Theater "Ivan Vazov" in Sofia, the Südalinna Theater in Tallinn, Schaubühne Berlin, the Epidaurus Festival in Athens, the National Theater Mannheim, the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, etc.

As Program Director of the Batumi International Theater Festival in Georgia (2019) and as Founder and Program Director of the Class International Theater Festival in Pleven, Bulgaria, 2024–2025 editions, Doljanski is constantly expanding his role as curator-creator, shaping the European theatrical dialogue. Since 2013, he has been a member of the jury of the prestigious International Ibsen Prize – informally nicknamed the „Nobel Prize for Theater” – and an individual member of the international network „Mitos21”, which brings together leading theater institutions and creators in Europe.

The importance of collaborating with the Regina Maria Theater

The collaboration with the Regina Maria Theater represents his second project in Romania, after the show "The Long Journey of Day to Night" by Eugene O'Neill at the "Radu Stanca" National Theater in Sibiu.

In Oradea, Roman Doljanski signs the adaptation of the script of the show "„Broken mirror”", starting from the play Broken Glass by Arthur Miller, in a stage form that enters into a lively dialogue with contemporary reality and the ethical questions of the present.

About this version, the playwright states:

„"The title of another, much more fabulous play by the great American playwright Arthur Miller, The Price, defines the central theme of the new production entitled The Broken Mirror. It is about the price that those around the main character must pay for her healing.

In recent years, we have been confronted with the reality of the so-called „new ethics” – a system of rules and restrictions through which society, driven by the best intentions, tries to regulate relations between people. As we know, the process of adopting these rules sometimes leads to deeply dramatic conflicts, as a result of which not only reputations and careers, but sometimes even human lives are destroyed. Today, looks, intonations, gestures, words – not to mention deeds and behaviors – are interpreted completely differently than they were perceived two or three decades ago.

This production features a character absent from Arthur Miller's original play – the clinic director, who conducts his own investigation into the results of the heroine's treatment. He tries to find out if any of these "new rules" have been violated. The doctor does indeed perform a small miracle – he gets a patient back on her feet whom no one else could cure. But his intervention in the complicated personal life of the family who asked for his help leads to its disintegration – even if it was not an ideal family even before.

Was the doctor entitled to use the methods he applied? Can the treatment be considered a success if one person is cured at the expense of another? Where is the line beyond which healing becomes manipulation? There is no definitive answer to this question – neither from Arthur Miller, nor from the characters, nor from the creators of the show. The goal is to raise the question and invite the audience to formulate their own answer.

It should be remembered that the piece Broken Glass was written in the mid-1990s, and the action takes place in the late 1930s. The rise of the Nazis in Germany, the persecutions against the Jews, and the events of Kristallnacht are essential to Miller's plot. Today, the historical circumstances are completely different, but the theme of various forms of anti-Semitism has unfortunately become frighteningly relevant again. And although this topic occupies a less central place in the new version than in the original play, it remains an important one.”

Premiere of the show „"The Broken Mirror", a screenplay by Roman Doljanski after Arthur Miller, directed by Timofei Kuliabin, takes place on November 16 and 17, and information about the entire team and the show can be found on the page dedicated to the event: www.teatrulreginamaria.ro/oglinda-sparta/