An interview with the actor Ionuţ CARAS

“I am happy that I met Gurevici”

Ionuţ Caras, actor at the National Theatre from Cluj, is nominated for the UNITER 2010 Awards, at the category- The best actor in a leading role- for the score in Walpurgis Night or The steps of the Commander by Venedikt Erofeev and directd by Mihai Măniuţiu.

You are being nominated at the UNITER Awards for your role in “Walpurgis Night” from The National Theatre in Cluj. How did you wait for the list with the nominations of this year and how did you “digest” the news of rediscovering your name in the competition?
I found out that I was nominated from my colleagues from Bucharest and from Cluj. I was in the middle of an exam with my students- so my mind was focusing on something eles, so I didn’t take the news very seriously. In the beginning, I thought that they are just rumors. As regards my “waiting of the lists”, I really don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect them in any way. I was busy with the rehearsals for school and for the theatre, so my priorities were different. In any case, I didn’t waited with my heart in my mouth, looking out for in press or at the prognostics. The fact that a jury with expertise considered my interpretation in Walpurgis Night as representative is very gladdening.

What chances do you give yourself for winning the UNITER Award, taking into consideration the role you have, but also the roles of the other nominees in the same section- Mihai Constantin for “Endgame” and George Mihăiţă for “Zoika’s House”?
In the case of any honorable contest, the chances are the same for everybody. Mihai Constantin and George Mihăiţă are very good actors that I respect. I am certain that the roles, for which they were nominated, are constructed beautifully and are well directed. As far as I am concerned, I am proud and happy that I managed to meet with the character Gurevici, the author Erofeev and with the director Măniuţiu, in a wonderful and generous moment from the artistic and human point of view. Precisely because of this reason, I don’t feel insecure and uncomfortable in this role.

You managed to present “The Walpurgis Night” in a relatively short interval- in a month and a half, if I am not mistaken. In what way did this role affect you during rehearsals, what did it tell you during the first apparition with the public and how does every representation have to be, so that you can interpret you part as best as you can?
The Walpurgis Night is not an easy production for the actors as well as for the audience. Under the deceiving aspect of a tragicomedy, painful realities and touching stories hide. The subject is situated within a historic context that continues to have severe repercussions on our society. In The Walpurgis Night there are no free images or things half done. All the actors from the cast are aware of this and they are faithful to this approach. The role of Gurevici is as demanding as it is beautiful and endless, and the preparation for this part is a special one, to top the responsibilities. And yes, it involves effort, a certain type of energy, a controlled approach and a lot of attentiveness. I couldn’t wait to meet the audience (maybe more than I had used to do for other productions) and I was terribly glad in the end to see their reaction. The spectator were deeply moved and totally transposed into a different mood, from the one they had had, when they entered the theatre. The miracle took place….so to speak.

The director Mihai Măniuţiu, in his quality of artistic director at The National Theatre from Cluj, said before starting the rehearsals:”that he hopes the production will give a fuller image of the cast’s potential as a unitary organism- so it is an experiment in this respect, because the entire theatre is involved in the project”. How do you comment these statements, as one who is in the interior of the cast, and to what extent do you think Mihai Măniuţiu managed to offer this “fuller image of the cast as a unitary organism”?
The cast of The National Theatre from Cluj undergoes a real transformation. This is reflected by the strongly appreciated presence at the National Theatre Festival, where we were invited with three productions; but also by the awards received at the Contemporary Dramaturgy Festival from Braşov, by the public’s reaction and by the working climate within the cast. Thus, I believe that this unitary organism, a cast, is evolving and growing.

It is possible for the cast of The National Theatre from Cluj to become one of the best three in the country. And this might happen in two years time.

How do you feel the creation ambiance at The National Theatre from Cluj?
Fortunately, here the actors take time to search; they ask themselves questions regarding this art and its purposes. We are not crushed by the “crises”. We are rehearsing in parallel four productions that will have the premiere in March. In April, we are going to have the premiere of The Reviser directed by Monei Chirilă, and in April we are going to work on a very interesting text with Radu Afrim… All these independently form the personal project each of us has. We have no time to vegetate and to wait for the end of the world.

On whom do you bet for the other sections from the nominations list of The UNITER Awards?
I place my money on the best.

Tell me three things that spontaneously come into you head at this very moment.

1. Where did my tom cat, Ilie, go, because I can’t see him beside me…
2. Tomorrow, I will receive Oberon’s complete outfit from The Dream and I hope it will be ok…
3. And by the way ….when are the UNITER Galas?