Alexa Băcanu - exploring life's wonderful cycles and our beautifully unpredictable present!

This March at Reactor, we can't wait to welcome you to our very first premiere of the year—the fabulous show "The Uprising" ("Răscoala")! This exciting production brings together the brilliant creative duo Alexa Băcanu (playwright) and Dragoș Mușoiu (director) once again. The musical is a wonderful adaptation of Liviu Rebreanu's famous novel of the same name, featuring a spectacular score composed by Boros Csaba for the first act, Danaga for the second act, and even a special song written by actor Radu Dogaru himself!
In the interview below, the lovely Alexa shares some delightful behind-the-scenes insights into her creative process for this exciting project.

1. How did the wonderful idea of creating a show based on Liviu Rebreanu's novel, The Uprising, come about? What caught your eye and captured your heart?

Alexa Băcanu: The spark came during a lovely chat with Dragoș Mușoiu. We were talking about how so many world-famous musicals are actually stage adaptations of great literary works, and we wondered what Romanian classics would fit the bill. I suggested a few titles, but "The Uprising" was immediately the top pick for both of us! In fact, before I even started writing, I used to playfully say that it was already a musical just waiting to happen—all we had to do was write the songs (though I might have regretted that confidence later!). First and foremost, it is an incredibly well-written novel. Even now, after reading it about a billion times (rough estimate!), I still find myself completely swept away whenever I open a page. I am instantly right there in the story. Even when the events make me want to shake the characters, I still react with so much emotion—laughing at the same jokes and marveling at Rebreanu's fantastic craftsmanship*, his rich character development, the perfect tone, the building tension, and all that gorgeous poetry and humor!

I must confess, I felt a little nervous when I reread the novel two or three years ago. Although I loved it when I was 19 or 20, my tastes have evolved quite a bit since then, as have the lenses through which I enjoy literature. Let's be honest, we don't always expect works from the 1930s to be easily digestible for modern audiences! And sure, it's not absolutely perfect, and there are a few points I'd love to chat with him about over tea, but compared to other writers of his era, the man was wonderfully progressive! He shows a beautiful tenderness and understanding toward his flawed, ridiculous characters, paired with a sharp, insightful social critique. It's a marvelous mix of sympathy and frustration that makes the whole piece feel incredibly rich, nuanced, and surprisingly modern!

*I rarely use that word, but it fits so beautifully here! I almost want to write "Master" with a capital M—forgive me, my fellow independent artists!

2. In recent years, you've worked on fantastic shows that lean toward musical theatre, tackling some pretty intense and thought-provoking themes. What draws you to this genre? What does it unlock for you as a writer?

A.B.: First of all, I absolutely adore musical theatre as an art form! It is such a joy to create something that I love consuming as an audience member myself. It's rare for straight theatre to move or thrill me as deeply as music does, so this was my enthusiastic attempt to get as close to music as possible, despite my own modest musical talents! I started with tiny songs tucked into various scripts, then moved to a musical scene in our show "Glory," and eventually wrote "If It Had a Mouth" ("Dac-ar avea gură")—a musical about bullying that I created with Dragoș at unteatru in Bucharest, through the Proiect 2 association. For me, there is no greater joy than hearing my own words sung on stage! Music adds a beautiful extra layer of emotion that amplifies the text, bringing its meaning to life in the most wonderful way.

Structuring the show as a musical gives me the creative freedom to approach tough subjects with a wonderful directness. It also allows for a touch of grand, emotional drama that might feel out of place in a regular play. It forces me to distill everything to its beautiful essence, which is incredibly helpful for structuring the plot and staying focused on the heart of the story without getting lost in the details. Balancing those details was quite a thrilling challenge when adapting "The Uprising"; it was so hard to trim down parts of the novel, and even though we made big cuts, I probably should have been even bolder!
3. How did you approach adapting and dramatizing the novel? What did you feel was absolutely essential to preserve for our lovely audience, and why? What were the main themes you wanted to highlight?
A.B.: To begin with, I wanted to keep absolutely everything because it's all so good! But I eventually decided to focus on the main driving force: the uprising itself, even though I would have loved to spend hours exploring each character's backstory. Why and how the uprising happened, and who the key players were—these were the vital elements we needed to bring to life clearly. It's a fascinating journey because we have the actual historical event of 1907, seen through Rebreanu’s literary lens in 1932, and now presented through our own modern perspective today! I wanted to truly understand the history of 1907 first, then look at how Rebreanu chose to reflect those events, and finally view it all as someone who knows what followed in Romania’s history up to this very moment. The parallels between then and now practically leaped off the page! It is incredibly recognizable—almost astonishingly so—in the political games, the wealth gaps, the casual sidelining of certain communities, and that undeniable feeling of tension building in the air, obvious to everyone except those in power. One element I wished we could have explored even more is the female perspective. Aside from Nadina, the women in the novel are somewhat sidelined into classic archetypes. Fortunately, our wonderful, diverse cast brings a lovely balance to the stage! While you can't fit every single theme into one evening of theatre, I’m keeping this idea close to my heart for future projects!
4. This is the very first time Reactor is staging a show adapted from a classic novel! How do you feel about this exciting step? Why this particular novel, and what does it say to us today?
A.B.: I think that beautifully connects with what we chatted about earlier! Bringing "The Uprising" to the Reactor stage felt like a wonderful, daring adventure for us. Because we are a theatre that usually focuses on contemporary everyday realities, choosing a classic felt, paradoxically, incredibly fresh and exciting! For an independent space like ours, it's a bold experiment. We get to ask: how do we play with classic material, distant history, and themes that resonate so strongly today? This mix also brings a delightful, sometimes comedic theatricality, simply from the contrast of our cozy venue and this grand story! I think in our artistic circles there can sometimes be a bit of playful skepticism toward "high culture." I totally get where that comes from—it's a healthy, youthful desire to question the status of things we're told are "masterpieces." It's always great to use our critical thinking! I don't love Rebreanu or "The Uprising" just because a textbook told me to; I love it because I read it with an open mind and fell in love with his craft, first at 20 and now at 40.
When we first announced we were making a musical out of "The Uprising," people's immediate reaction was to laugh—and I totally understand why! It sounds like such an unexpected combination, which is exactly what made it so irresistible to us. What do modern theatre makers have in common with villagers from 120 years ago? Well, those villagers are our ancestors, and their stories shaped the world we walk in today. We live in fascinating, sensitive times, and looking back helps us understand our present and choose a brighter path forward. While the historical figures faced incredibly tough times ahead, our hope is that by reflecting on these stories, we can inspire empathy and understanding today. When you read about the characters in the book who feel unheard and desperate, you can't help but feel a deep sense of empathy. That tumultuous start of the 20th century mirrors our own changing world, but it also brings a powerful message of hope: we are here, we can see the path, and we still have the beautiful opportunity to choose a wonderful, cooperative way forward together.

5. How do you hope our wonderful audiences will receive the show? What exciting thoughts or challenges do you want to share with them?

A.B.: I can't wait to see how everyone reacts! My biggest hope is that it gets people talking, sharing ideas, and looking at our world with a warm, open, and critical mind. I hope it inspires everyone to see the big picture and to approach others with boundless humanity and empathy. Most of all, I hope our audience has an absolutely fantastic time! It is a spectacular show unlike anything ever seen at Reactor before. So many incredibly talented people have poured their hearts, souls, and energy into bringing this story to life in the most dazzling way possible. Reactor has truly outdone itself to make this dream happen. I hope with all my heart that when the curtain falls, every single person feels that magic and knows it was worth every single moment!

Cultural program co-funded by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The program does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the program or how the results of the program may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding.