We have reached our 6th annual review! *insert gif showing wonder, excitement, but also confidence and pride, without seeming arrogant*. Looking back once again, it is hard to say what hasn't already been said about the year 2020. So, we are going to skip the introduction.

*hop*

In short, we tried to keep doing what we do best, and just like every other time, that was our saving grace #awww.

Here is what has kept us busy:

• We continued our multi-annual program started in 2019, The Gap. Intergenerational Narratives, aiming to bridge the distance between generations. This turned out to be a double challenge during a pandemic, but fortunately, we had plenty of wonderful, motivating meetings. 

• We launched the multi-annual program Posthuman. Performative Approaches, designed as a way to reflect on how technology impacts modern human life. What a perfect moment for that, right?

• We were absolutely thrilled to be able to host, in person, our two residency programs: Fresh Start – creation residencies for young graduates, now in its 4th edition, and Drama 5 – playwriting residencies, in its 5th edition, while our lovely partners at LiterNet published the 5 plays written during the 4th edition of Drama 5.

• In addition, through projects like Correlations, Synchronization Exercises, and Investigating the City – a documentary theatre laboratory, we continued to focus on our main artistic pillars: contemporary playwriting, documentary theatre, experimentation, and artistic research.

• All this time, the fantastic MiniReactor team kept encouraging playwriting for children and developing fresh cultural experiences in line with modern times and tools. We highly encourage you to browse the 7 plays written for the START. Playwriting for Children project on the LiterNet website, and to watch the charming episodes created from the 12 texts written by kids in the MiniTEXTS. Kids' Words project.

And because winter is the perfect season to count our premieres, let's take a look at the timeline of our latest shows in the repertoire, which we hope you'll get to see as soon as possible, either live or online!

• The show (IN)CORRECT met its audience on February 14, 2020, being the second production of our multi-annual program The Gap. Intergenerational Narratives.

• On May 22, 2020, Exeunt marked our exit from lockdown, our very first online meeting with the audience, and the debut production of the multi-annual program Posthuman. Performative Approaches.

• Our almost Inconceivable show premiered on July 8, 2020, also online, as part of the Correlations project.

• On July 25, 2020, we gathered in the courtyard to watch Not another online performance live, the wonderful result of the artistic residency held by our colleague Raul Coldea as part of the program The Gap. Intergenerational Narratives.

• On September 17, 2020, during that brief, sweet window when we could welcome you back in person, we showed you All the things Alois took from me, a production created during Drama 5. 5th Edition.

• After a long period of adaptation and incubation, Finally, the End arrived on September 29, 2020, also under the Correlations project—currently only in a filmed version, but we are eagerly waiting to share a real-life, physical premiere with you.

• While We Live, the online performance action designed by Mihai Păcurar within the Investigating the City – documentary theatre laboratory project, brought us all together on October 31, 2020, in the infinite digital space, promising that we can always find new ways of being together at the same time, in the same city.

• The Fresh Start residents spoke to us beautifully about The Rest of Our Lives on November 18, also on the small screens.

• And you haven't even seen Interior-light yet! It's the second show produced in the Posthuman. Performative Approaches program, and we simply cannot wait to show it to you at the very first opportunity in 2021.

• Over at MiniReactor, The Window That Couldn't Sleep made its grand debut on November 5, 2020, also on film, created under the project START. Playwriting for Children. This was followed by the delightful MiniTexts series, part of the MiniTexts. Kids' Words project, featuring 12 short episodes written by kids and brought to life on video by our artists.

We tried to make the best of the extra time we had this year to grow in new directions and offer you, our wonderful audience, creative opportunities in the following workshops:

• Video Storytelling Workshop with Janek Turkowski and Iwona Nowacka (Poland)

• Microperformative Practices Workshop with Lucie Strecker and Jens Hauser (Germany)

• Playwriting Workshop for high school and university students with Ana Cucu Popescu

• Theatre Criticism Workshop for youth with Cristina Rusiecki

• Fictional Attempts of Proximity – writing workshop with Ioana Hogman

• Framework Cultural Mediation Workshops with Raul Coldea

2020 was also the year we discovered that you don't necessarily need a tour van to travel to festivals. Though, of course, we are super-duper-excited to use it again! With or without our little van, this year we made it to:

• 11plus1 independent/contemporary, Craiova

• FEST- FDR, Romanian Drama Festival, Timișoara

• Interferences International Theatre Festival, Cluj

• TIFF – Transilvania International Film Festival, Cluj

• DbutanT Festival, Sfântu Gheorghe & Constanța

• Bucharest Fringe – Independent Theatre Marathon, Bucharest

• DaFeSt International Studio Theatre Festival, Pitești

• Independent Theatre Micro-season, Slobozia

• STUDIO Festival – Meeting of Theatre Schools, Târgu-Mureș

• Yorick Stúdió Online Anniversary Micro-season, Târgu Mureș

• Puppets Occupy Street Festival, Craiova 

• WonderPuck Street Festival, Cluj

• Jazz in the Street, Cluj

The theater season supported by Reactor in Zalău, which kicked off in 2019, continued in 2020 with a fresh series of performances. Sadly, the pandemic paused our activities, but we will absolutely be back there in 2021!

from the series #othermajorachievements

Humor saved the day, as always

Back in April, with #filtrudoru

All added up, 2020 meant:

• 84 cultural events organized by Reactor

• 20 cultural events organized by MiniReactor

• 5 Reactor premieres

• one MiniReactor premiere and a delightful series of 12 short episodes written by kids

• 27 performances on tour and at festivals

•  That's a grand total of 131 events for an audience of over 5000 theater lovers!

• Over 40 collaborating artists, 13 resident artists, and 20 guest artists participated in bringing these events to life, making a total of over 73 brilliant artists from Romania and abroad.

To bring these projects to life, we enjoyed the wonderful support of our friends and partners: The Faculty of Theatre and Television Cluj, the German Cultural Center, Cluj National Theatre, Cluj Hungarian State Theatre, Cinema Arta, Replika Educational Theatre Center Bucharest, the Zalău County Museum of History and Art, Târgu Mureș University of Arts, Gong Theatre Sibiu, Cărturești Bookstores, Fast Print, Daisler Print House, Daisler Association & Lights On Festival.

And for sharing the word, we want to thank our amazing media partners: Radio România Cluj, Radio România Cultural, EBS Radio, TVR Cluj, Transilvania Reporter, Zile și Nopți, LiterNet, Ziarul Făclia, Feeder, Cluj.com, Cluj Life, Clujul Cultural, B-Critic.

And since this year-end review would have been much shorter without the fantastic support of our funders, we send a big thank you to the local and national cultural institutions that believed in us: the National Cultural Fund Administration, the Cluj-Napoca City Hall and Local Council, as well as our private sponsors: Tenaris Silcotub Zalău, Cluj Apartments, and SC DISTRAL SRL.

What's next?

During the first 3 months of 2021, we invite you to join us for RETROSPECTIVE 7, a program designed to celebrate the upcoming 7th anniversary of our Reactor space this March!

In the 3 months leading up to the celebration, we will focus on our 4 main artistic directions:

• Contemporary Romanian playwriting;

• Documentary theatre: Personal histories. Recent histories;

• Experimentation and research;

• Growing the cultural offer for children through the MiniReactor platform.

We will be hosting thematic discussions, cultural mediation workshops featuring show viewings, and 4 special lecture-performances created by the Reactor team and broadcast via live-stream. These events will bring together many of the wonderful artists we've worked with over these 7 years of Reactor. They will take place online, with the exciting possibility of welcoming you back into our theater hall if the pandemic guidelines allow it!

This March, we celebrate 7 years of creative exploration, and we are turning our gaze toward the theme of the future, which we will explore in our upcoming projects.

Thank you so much, and we simply cannot wait to see you again and share beautiful stories in 2021!

photo credits: Lina Roșca, Bogdan Botaș, Cătălin Grigoriu, Chris Nemeș

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