Did I buy a house in Romania?

The most interesting thing that happened to me today was that I signed a power-of-attorney document for tax purposes here in Romania.  This way, I've designated Oana (an employee at the theatre) to make arrangements on my behalf to pay taxes and other things related to my work here in Cluj. To do it, Oana and I went to a nearby lawyer's office, where a Notary Public and a translator met us.  The translator translated every word of the document, and then we all practiced our signatures a lot.  The translator seemed to do a good job, but for all I know, the papers I signed married me to Oana.  Or bought me a house.

Before and after that was our first day in costumes. Ionut learned how to ride a bike AND smoke a cigar:

We also shot photos of the clowns for the poster.  After the shoot, Eli and I got in for a few shots:

Then, on a break, Ionut and and Matei went out to a local park to play with the normal humans. They both made quick friends: 

In the evening, we ran the show for the designers/technicians/us and called it an early night, but not before I got a chance to snap a photo of the stage managers's board backstage.

A half-day of rehearsal and a Neil Simon Classic!

We were back in the theatre today for four hours of rehearsal in the morning.  Eli continues to refine the performance, adding nuance, character work, and precision to what can often look pretty disorganized and random.  Here he is giving notes to the company:

We ended our rehearsal day after only four hours as the space needed to be set up for tonight's performance of Biloxi Blues. Yes, after hearing for years about how original and kooky Eastern European theatre can be, my first full production experience was the Neil Simon classic.  

Irina and Silvius had lunch with Eli and I at a place called Marty Cafe, which felt the closest to a diner I've been to in a while.  That said, none of us had 'American' food. Irina had asian soup, Silvius had chicken dijon, and Eli and I both had a pretty tasty roasted eggplant. I have yet to really experience Romanian food... most everything around here is international of some flavor...

Biloxi Blues was almost exactly what I expected.  Obtuse, expressionistic, daring, and very un-American. I have to say that while parts of it were great (including the performances), the piece was not my cup of tea.  I think the director totally blew it with regards to any larger meanings in the play.  That said, the performances were good, Eli and I learned a lot, and I went out with the actors after the show for a beer.  Now, back in my room to scarf down a meal before bed...

Today, a day off.

I woke at 6.30 am, shortly before my alarm. A fitful night's sleep - I woke every hour on the hour. I'm hoping it was the death rattle of my jetlag.  Eli and I met for breakfast and made plans to head to the salt mines, a local historical landmark, but our ride ended up not quite happening. Instead, we thought we'd wander the city a bit. Shortly out of the hotel, we came across a banner for the National Theatre, which had a segment devoted to War of the Clowns:

The poster was in a large central square, where the second-largest church in Transylvania sits, along with a number of tents connected to the film festival:

The salt mine trip wasn't happening, but instead, we headed to the botanical gardens. The gardens were not far from the central of town, so we walked. We passed this storefront (this one's for you, Liz & Josh):

and a funky house with an improvised porch:

The botanical gardens were lovely.  The plants themselves seemed well-tended.  Eli thought the roses looked great, and there was a Japanese garden, an Italian garden, a cactus garden, a palm greenhouse, and a rambly forest.  The plants were tended well, but the grounds around the plants were a little less manicured.  Weeds were everywhere, paint was peeling, and there was the occasional piece of garbage tossed in a creek (bonus - there was a creek and a small waterfall!).  Huntington Gardens this was not, but it was a lovely park, and quite worth the $1.70 entrance fee.

The park was a atop a hill, and within the park was a tower. If you climbed the tower, you can see the town laid out below.  The spire in the center below is the same spire in the second picture above.

Climbing down from the tower, someone had written a grave warning in the cement:

After the gardens, we headed back into town for a bit of shopping (me for a book and a watch, Eli for a hat - fruitless on both our parts), lunch, and a siesta.  I took a small nap before meeting Eli for an afternoon of wandering.  We headed northwest from the town square, past a bunch of decrepit buildings...

...and into a beautiful park, packed with families and lovebirds walking hand-in-hand.

Eli had been trying to find a pool to swim in, and once we found it, we headed back to the main part of town to catch a movie in the town square after dark:

We only stayed for the first half, partly because it's long, partly because we were tired, and partly because it's so slow!

Tomorrow, back to rehearsal!  And my first play in Romania... I'll let it be a surprise for you...

Welcome to Romania!

I landed in Cluj late last night, and as I was standing in the passport control line, I noticed that there was a sign for the Transylvania International Film Festival. Really? Transylvania has enough pull to get people to come to a film festival? From OUTSIDE Transylvania? That was not the first, nor would it be the last, time that I allowed myself an errant small-town-in-the-sticks joke.  Here's one of the posters from the film festival - it's based on an unusual folk art from an area of Romania 250km from here, where the 'Merry Cemetery' features gravestones with cartoons and poems about how the deceased met their demise:

Eli and Delia picked me up at the airport and had me back the hotel and checked in in an hour. The hotel is fine, with high ceilings and nasty beds (S - we'll have to get you some extra blankets for padding).  I slept about 4 hours and then woke for breakfast (meats, cheeses, breads, tomato) with Eli and a day of rehearsal.  Rehearsal was swell - we got through the show during the afternoon and worked through the first third again in the evening session. Here's a shot of the clowns rehearsing a warrior sequence:

In between rehearsal sessions, Eli and I had lunch with Mihai (the artistic director) and Anka (a theatre scholar at one of the big universities in Cluj - also, she and Mihai are married). I had some lovely pork rib with braised red cabbage.  After rehearsal, Eli and I met up with some of the cast at a pub called Godfather's for beer and conversation. I didn't last long, as I'm still jetlagged. After the pub, I came back to the hotel to work on notes from rehearsal.

First impressions of Cluj & Romania - a run-down city with lots of potential for greatness, a huge intellectual & artistic scene (lots of universities and cultural events), city-dwellers who are passionate and proud of their city, and lots of friendly faces.

Now, to bed!  Tomorrow is another big day of rehearsal!

En Route to Romania

I'm writing from the Munich airport during a brief layover en route to Cluj. My flight took off from LA at 9pm last night and got in at 5:30pm today. Soon, I'll board the flight to Cluj. I didn't sleep well on the plane last night, and I expect to sleep well on this last leg. Anyhow, here's a series of observations about the Munich Airport.

* This is the first international layover where I didn't have to collect my bag and recheck in. I got off of the plane and found myself in the terminal!

* There is no background music. No elevator music, no CNN international, nothing! Every once in a while, there will be a service announcement, and the first notes of the lead-in music sound lie the opening of Bach's cello cantatas.

* There is some sort of adult establishment here in the international terminal. I thought it might've been a peep show (they advertise a 1Euro cover charge), but there's also a big banner up for a going out of business sale. Not sure what it was.

* I had a bowl of ramen and a beer for fortification. I probably just needed the ramen, but hey, when in Bavaria...