Liviu Ciulei: 1923-2011.
* Liviu Ciulei was an architect, a stage designer, an actor and a director. He had the spirit of a Renaissance man, brilliant in every field.As an architect, he redesigned the Buhmdra Theatre in Bucharest, his hometown in Romania, transforming it into one of the most flexible stages in Europe. He did much the same for the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, allowing it to be used in a variety of ways.
As a leader of an institution (first at Bulandra, where he was artistic director for more than a decade, and later at the Guthrie), he invited the best artistic talents of the time to work with his companies. In theatre, the glue that binds together all successful endeavors is collaboration--and Ciulei genuinely believed in collaboration.
Asa director, Ciulei worked for 50 years on stage and, with equal brilliance, in the cinema. The Forest of the Hanged stunned the international movie crowd as a masterpiece and won him the best-director prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Then he returned to the stage with a vitality that surpassed all his colleagues. From a sweet melodrama, like The Rainmaker (the first play I saw as a child in Bucharest), to an exquisitely baroque As You Like it, his style continu- ยป ously transformed itself. The latter production revolutionized the way of making theatre in Romania, departing from post-Stalin socialist realism and opening the way to the modern stage.
Ciulei gave us the courage to free our imaginations and seek to satisfy a spiritually starved audience, taking refuge from the gray life under communism.
Soon after Ceausescu's censorship of art became unbearable in his homeland, Ciulei emigrated to the U.S. and made a significant contribution, inspiring new energy with his original approach to classical work in theatres like Arena Stage, the Public Theater, Circle in the Square, American Repertory Theater and Classic Stage Company--and, of course, the Guthrie, which under his leadership experienced perhaps the most creative five seasons in its history-Chilei's Leonce and Lena, Hamlet, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Six Characters in Search of an Author are landmark productions in this country's theatre history. Child also directed and designed opera: Lady Macbeth ofMtsensk in Chicago remains unforgettable.
He worked with stars like Al Pacino, Kevin Klein and Dianne West, but also liked to discover and train beginners. Being an actor himself as well as a director, he deeply under-stood actors and helped them grow. Possessor of a volcanic temperament, Ciulei-acted in many films and on stage, playing heavy characters like Lenin and Danton, always transforming himself.
In his later years he became a dedicated teacher, generously sharing his knowledge with students, first at Columbia University, then at NYU.
But mostly I remember him as a trusted friend. It was Ciulei who gave me my first professional job: to direct Julius Caesar, which he designed in a kabuki Style. Ellen Stewart came to Romania and, after seeing Julius Caesar, invited me to work at La MaMa, changing the direction of my life. Both he and Ellen believed in honoring each person's contribution in the pursuit of a common goal.
Ciulei was specially blessed with a unique quality in our competitive world--that of being free from any feeling of jealousy or rivalry. Without a trace of vanity, Ciulei was happy as a child when he witnessed great theatre.
But, as any mentor, he also had a well-kept secret. In his production of Midsummer, when the troupe of players led by Bottom was humiliated by the cruel indifference of its audience, their bitter dignity was a reflection of Ciulei himself: the artist suffering for his art, but keeping the purity of his search intact.
Director Andrei Serban teaches at Columbia University.
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| Author: | Serban, Andrei |
|---|---|
| Publication: | American Theatre |
| Article Type: | In memoriam |
| Geographic Code: | 4EXRO |
| Date: | Jan 1, 2012 |
| Words: | 622 |
| Previous Article: | Gil Cates: 1934 - 2011. |
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