Making theater: a computer game, a hunt, a love

A young Romanian movie director tries to keep theater connected to real life.

On the first rehearsal days for a new play, 26-year old Romanian theater director Andrei Majeri never asks the actors to read their scripts. In theater it normally goes like this: after casting, actors get the screenplay and read their parts aloud. But the young director prefers to act as an uncommitted, vague DJ. He plays music and the actors have to dance for hours. The music ranges from traditional folk music to the classical repertoire, rock or oriental music. Going to casting is like going on a first date, and the actors only show their good sides. Charm is the commodity most traded during the first encounter. You have to convince and sell yourself, and honesty is not part of the script. Take the part, make the other one fall in love with you. The truth can wait. “But I don’t need only his best part, I need to see him (the actor) in his entirety,” says Majeri. “The tired body does not lie.” The bond between the director and the actors is the most important thing in a play, Majeri believes. “The cast accounts for 90% of the play.”