Sibiu International Theatre Festival

19 years ago, an initiative group led by Constantin Chiriac, actor of the "Radu Stanca" Theatre of Sibiu, decided to restore the lost glory of the city by organizing a theatre festival.

In his action, he was supported by personalities of the Romanian culture (Nicolae Manolescu, Marina Constantinescu, Cristina Dumitrescu), by theatre personalities from Romania (Silviu Purcărete, Tompa Gábor, Victor Ioan Frunză ) and from abroad (Prof. Kenneth Campbell -- Artistic Director at The „Blue Ridge" Theatre Festival, professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University, USA, Prof. Noel Witts -- Director of Studies, De Montfort University, Leicester, G.B., and others). The first edition -- 1993 -- did not benefit from sufficient funds for the guests' food and accommodation in hotels from Sibiu. It was March and there were snow drifts. For many who had never seen snow but in movies, Romania seemed a fascinating country. The guests carried garlic in their pockets, to protect themselves from vampires. However, the great performances of the Romanian theatre and of the theatres invited from abroad gave the Festival the quality of a remarkable event in the international cultural landscape.

After 1989 (the end of the Communist Regime), theatre was financially censored, most often ignored by a centralist critique, avoided by chroniclers whose publications had no money for travelling -- it seemed that the provincial theatre was forever condemned to provincialism. However, Sibiu did not disappear from the theatrical map, but, on the contrary, it became more present and well known in Europe.

Thus, in the spring of 1994, the ambitious "Young Professional Theatre Festival" began in the first theatre hall from Central Europe, built 400 years ago. Because of its ambiguity, the title did not please the organizers anymore. The second edition of the Festival was structured in four sections. The public's reaction -- mostly young people -- showed how much Sibiu and Romania needed high quality theatre. The most important performances of theatres across the country could be seen due to Sibiu Young Professional Theatre Festival. All the performances of the first Sibiu Festival were free, no tickets were sold. It was a wonderful opportunity for the residents of Sibiu, especially students, to spend indefinite time in the theatre. Large groups of people flocked at the hall entrance, where the surprised gatekeepers tried to let the official guests and participants first, before the battle for the remaining seats started.

The Festival has achieved continuity: now, it is well known from America to Japan, and it has become an institution with a very well defined personality and culture. If in 1993 representatives from only two countries (the Republic of Moldavia and Romania) participated, in 1994 -- the year when the first edition of the Festival was officially declared, the number of the participating countries increased to 8, and the next two editions were attended by guests from 21 and 24 countries, respectively. In 2000, on the occasion of the seventh edition, a record number of participating countries was registered, representatives from 54 countries coming to the Festival. In 2005, the 12th edition was attended by 2000 participants from 68 countries around the world, who prepared the cultural agenda for the Sibiu European Capital of Culture Programme - 2007. The year 2007 marks an exceptional edition of the Festival: in recognition of this event's contribution to the title of ECC, together with Luxembourg and the Greater Region, this special edition brought together more than 2,500 guests from 70 countries.

The years of 2008-2012 marks the maturity of Sibiu International Theatre Festival as a meeting place for excellence in the performing arts. Together with the development of the online ticketing system, the productions shown in Sibiu have all the tickets sold in advance. For the first time in history a Romanian festival introduces a heritage section which values the most important Romanian productions. The festival continues the plan to develop a performing arts market and creative dialog by supporting the independent theatre, the meeting of theatrical schools and high schools and the emphasize of Sibiu Performing Arts Market. In addition, the festival became the host for one of the most important book market from Romania, Sibiu BookFest, and the initiator of the Visual Arts Platform supported by Dan Perjovschi.

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