Aureliu Manea (4 February 1945, Bucharest â€" 13 March 2014, Galda de
Jos) was a Romanian theatre director, actor, and writer.Aureliu Manea
studied theatre directing under Radu Penciulescu (1930-2019) at the
Ion Luca Caragiale Academy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography in
Bucharest, graduating in 1968. The same year, he made his debut as a
director with a highly original production of Henrik Ibsen's
Rosmersholm at the State Theatre of Sibiu.He went on to stage a large
number of productions, including works by Shakespeare, Sophocles,
Seneca, Chekhov, Arnold Wesker, Racine, Jean Cocteau, Racine, and
Georg Büchner, as well as Romanian classics, such as Ion Luca
Caragiale's A Stormy Night and Tudor Mușatescu's Titanic Waltz, and
plays by contemporary Romanian dramatist Teodor Mazilu (1930-1980).
Suffering from ill health, he withdrew from theatre life in 1991 and
was a patient at the Neuropsychiatric Recuperation and Rehabilitation
Centre, Galda de Jos, Transylvania, until his death in 2014. In 1993,
he was awarded the UNITER (Uniunea Teatrală din România) Prize for
Lifetime Achievement. In 2014, the Turda Municipal Theatre was renamed
the Aureliu Manea National Theatre in honour of the director, who
staged many of his productions there.Franco-Romanian theatre critic
Georges Banu [fr] likens Manea to Argentinian director "maudit" Victor
Garcia and describes him as an exponent of "absolute theatre,
incandescent theatre," whose genius was recognised and admired at the
time by Jean Genet and Peter Brook. Banu followed Manea's career from
the very beginning, writing a review of his first production,
Rosmersholm, staged at the State Theatre of Sibiu in 1968. According
to Banu, Manea's production succeeded in creating an intense sense of
unease in both cast and audience by embodying Ibsen as a ghostly
presence moving among the actors on stage. Manea continued to stage
innovative, visually arresting productions at theatres around Romania,
including Racine's Britannicus at the Piatra NeamÈ› Youth Theatre in
1969.
Jos) was a Romanian theatre director, actor, and writer.Aureliu Manea
studied theatre directing under Radu Penciulescu (1930-2019) at the
Ion Luca Caragiale Academy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography in
Bucharest, graduating in 1968. The same year, he made his debut as a
director with a highly original production of Henrik Ibsen's
Rosmersholm at the State Theatre of Sibiu.He went on to stage a large
number of productions, including works by Shakespeare, Sophocles,
Seneca, Chekhov, Arnold Wesker, Racine, Jean Cocteau, Racine, and
Georg Büchner, as well as Romanian classics, such as Ion Luca
Caragiale's A Stormy Night and Tudor Mușatescu's Titanic Waltz, and
plays by contemporary Romanian dramatist Teodor Mazilu (1930-1980).
Suffering from ill health, he withdrew from theatre life in 1991 and
was a patient at the Neuropsychiatric Recuperation and Rehabilitation
Centre, Galda de Jos, Transylvania, until his death in 2014. In 1993,
he was awarded the UNITER (Uniunea Teatrală din România) Prize for
Lifetime Achievement. In 2014, the Turda Municipal Theatre was renamed
the Aureliu Manea National Theatre in honour of the director, who
staged many of his productions there.Franco-Romanian theatre critic
Georges Banu [fr] likens Manea to Argentinian director "maudit" Victor
Garcia and describes him as an exponent of "absolute theatre,
incandescent theatre," whose genius was recognised and admired at the
time by Jean Genet and Peter Brook. Banu followed Manea's career from
the very beginning, writing a review of his first production,
Rosmersholm, staged at the State Theatre of Sibiu in 1968. According
to Banu, Manea's production succeeded in creating an intense sense of
unease in both cast and audience by embodying Ibsen as a ghostly
presence moving among the actors on stage. Manea continued to stage
innovative, visually arresting productions at theatres around Romania,
including Racine's Britannicus at the Piatra NeamÈ› Youth Theatre in
1969.
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