Teatro Lúcido at the Infinite Shore, directed by Radu Afrim, has its official premiere on April 5
The official premiere of the play Teatro Lúcido at the Infinite Shore by Radu Afrim will take place on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at 7:00 PM. This is the third production directed by Radu Afrim at the Constanța State Theatre (TSC), following Scarred Hearts by Max Blecher (2006), and Seaside Stories, a collage of contemporary Romanian prose (2022). With Seaside Stories, TSC received two UNITER Awards, including the Award for Best Performance of 2022, along with four other nominations.
With a painful sense of humor, Radu Afrim lucidly targets - as he has accustomed his audience throughout his theatrical work - the intolerances and flaws of our times, as well as the often extravagant ways people manage their traumas, anxieties, or depressions brought on by the turbulent times we live in.
"Sometimes a bit of kitsch can keep you grounded if you feel like you've gotten too far ahead of your peers in terms of aspirations and ideals." - This line from Afrim’s text may serve as one of the keys to interpreting the playful (self-)irony that generated this show.
"I mainly relied on the energy of this extraordinary young troupe from Constanța. When you work with a company like this, it’s a shame to stifle their energy by bringing in a different kind of discourse. I'm honestly happy that, at my age, I can still keep up with these very young actors. They're not all young in age, but even the more mature ones are extremely committed to what they do," said Radu Afrim in a televised interview, following the three preview performances last weekend.
The cast includes: Andrei Bibire, Theodor Șoptelea, Ștefan Mihai, Cristiana Luca, Ecaterina Lupu, Lana Moscaliuc, Cătălin Bucur, Anais Agi-Ali, Liliana Cazan, Iulian Enache, Dana Dumitrescu, Nina Udrescu, Costinel Antone, and Cosmin Conțolencu (extra).
The text is written by Radu Afrim, who also incorporated three contemporary Romanian short stories by Adriana Bittel, Bogdan Răileanu, and Doina Ruști. Radu Afrim also created the soundscape.
The set design is by Irina Moscu, who also designed the poster. Flavia Giurgiu conceived and coordinated the choreography, and Cristian Niculescu handled the lighting design. The video recordings and editing were done by Andrei Dermengiu, who is also the technical director of the show. Light and video operator – Alexandru Bibere, sound operators – Teodor Besoiu and Mirel Hagiu, assistant director – Tudor Cioboteanu, delegated producer – Alexandra Babă, prompter – Claudia Mihuț, intern assistant – Tudor Licu.
The show is not recommended for audiences under 16.
Radu Afrim is one of the most acclaimed, awarded, and innovative Romanian directors, known for his unconventional approach to dramaturgy and original interpretations of the texts he stages. Whether he chooses contemporary texts—towards which he clearly leans—classical works, or his own scripts, Radu Afrim’s creative portfolio includes dozens of productions and numerous awards.
Over his career, no fewer than three of his productions have won the UNITER Award for Best Directing: Plastilina, at “Toma Caragiu” Theatre in Ploiești (2006); joi.megaJoy, at Odeon Theatre in Bucharest (2007); and Tihna, at the National Theatre Târgu-Mureș - "Tompa Miklós" Company (2016). International recognition soon followed: in 2008, he was awarded the Coup de Coeur de la Presse at the “Off” Festival in Avignon for Mansarde à Paris / Les détours de Cioran, based on a text by Matei Vișniec. He also received the Grand Prize of the Grange de Dorigny Festival in Lausanne, Switzerland, for two consecutive years.
Among the many memorable shows he has brought to stages in Bucharest and across the country are: Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta by Aglaja Veteranyi (2003), The Retro Bird Crashes into the Block and Falls on the Hot Asphalt by Radu Afrim (2017), The Forest of the Hanged, based on Liviu Rebreanu’s novel (2018), Three Sisters, a (un)naturally free adaptation after A.P. Chekhov (2019), Heart and Other Meat Dishes by Dan Coman (2020), The City with Poor Girls after Radu Tudoran (2020), A Few People Away from You by Dan Coman (2024), The Memory Trilogy by Arne Lygre (2024), Day of Joy by Arne Lygre (2024), The House Between the Blocks by Radu Afrim (2025).
From 2013 to 2015, he was also the artistic director of the Gala of the Young Actor (HOP Gala).
Irina Moscu is an interdisciplinary artist with multiple passions. Initially trained as an architect and graphic designer, her field of interest has expanded to set design, costume design, art installations, performance art, and theatre directing. Her early work involved independent theatre projects, but she has since collaborated with major theatres in Romania and across Europe.
In recent years, she has written and performed her own works at the National Museum of Contemporary Art of Romania and various theatre festivals. She has also started directing for the stage. Her latest show, here. melancholy, for which she signed both direction and scenography, is a complex international collaboration.
In 2021, Irina won the Gopo Award for Best Set Design for the film Uppercase Print, directed by Radu Jude. Some of her recent projects have been nominated for Best Set and Costume Design by the Romanian Theatre Union and the Hungarian Theatre Critics Association. Irina has received numerous awards and nominations, including the Prize of the Order of Architects of Romania, establishing herself as a leading multidisciplinary artist in the contemporary cultural landscape.
Flavia Giurgiu is a theatre, dance, and performance art creator, with a steady and complex activity both in Romania and abroad. She works in theatres, museums, and independent cultural spaces, collaborating with nationally and internationally renowned artists.
She creates and performs her own pieces and signs choreography and stage movement for productions in which she is involved. With training in acting and contemporary dance, her artistic explorations revolve around different ways of being present in the contemporary performance space.
Cristian Niculescu is a multidisciplinary artist best known for his work as a lighting designer. A graduate of UNATC - first in acting, then with a master’s in Light and Sound Design - his interests lie in light design, sound, and multimedia for theatre, dance, performative installations, and multimedia performances.
Passionate about technology and its potential to enhance and convey artistic messages, he continuously seeks new ways to create a unified body with the work presented to the audience.
In over 14 years of activity, he has collaborated with Radu Afrim, Diana Mititelu, Theodor-Cristian Popescu, Gianina Cărbunariu, Andrei Șerban, Botond Nagy, Alexandru Dabija, Răzvan Mazilu, David Schwartz, Sânziana Stoican, Nicoleta Esinencu, Eugen Jebeleanu, and others.
One of his recent projects, Cities in Transformation (authors Dorin Ștefan Adam and Laurian Ghinițoiu), was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Prize - the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, in the ephemeral installations category.
In both 2024 and 2025, he was nominated for “Best Lighting Design” at the UNITER Awards, with this year's nomination being for The House of Bernarda Alba at Constanța State Theatre, directed by Diana Mititelu.