Dragoș Mușoiu – on the joyful adventure of effort and adapting!

March brings us the very first premiere of the year, a truly special debut in more ways than one, considering it's the first time we've dramatized and staged a novel right here at Reactor! This fabulous production is a musical based on the classic novel Răscoala (The Uprising) by Liviu Rebreanu. It has been brilliantly adapted for the stage by Alexa Băcanu, directed by the wonderful Dragoș Mușoiu, and features a spectacular original score composed by Boros Csaba for the first act and Danaga for the second!

1. You've been working in the world of musicals and musical theatre for a few years now, leaving your own unique mark when it comes to tackling impactful social themes. How does this new show fit into your exciting artistic journey?

Dragoș Mușoiu: Even though most of my shows in recent years make rich use of music and rely on singing, I wouldn't call all of them musicals. Some are simply plays with songs, while others draw inspiration from cabaret or revue theatre. If we're talking about a true musical—where a sweeping story is told entirely through song—Răscoala is only the third such production I've worked on together with the talented playwright Alexa Băcanu! Our wonderful collaboration on this genre started back in 2020, when we created the musical about bullying, If It Had a Mouth, at unteatru in Bucharest. At that time, I couldn't find many examples in recent Romanian theatre history where both the script and the music were completely original. Fortunately, the creative team at Reactor saw the magic in our approach and, starting in 2022, provided us with the perfect playground to continue and develop it. First came The Dream, a musical addressing abuses within artistic university environments, and now we are working on Răscoala—a vibrant, political musical about social inequality, crowd manipulation, and their consequences, which can be incredibly intense.

To answer your question, I feel this show is a wonderful and natural step forward in my artistic explorations! The most exciting new twist here is our starting point: we are working with an existing masterpiece, a novel. This is a thrilling first both for me and for Reactor!

2. You started from a monumental, canonical novel, Răscoala by Liviu Rebreanu, which you have delightfully transformed during the creative process. What gets to stay in the spotlight and what has been trimmed away?

D.M.: First and foremost, it was a grand exercise in finding the absolute essence! Răscoala is a dense and complex novel spanning several hundred pages, packed with multiple plotlines and characters with deeply developed biographies. Packing all of that into one show is practically impossible! So, we set out to capture the heart and soul of Rebreanu's story, trimming away the secondary subplots, blending some character biographies, and focusing them in a way that keeps the deep emotional impact of their personal journeys alive within the larger picture. You could say that was our creative conceptualization process. On top of that, we wanted to bring a fresh, contemporary perspective to both the novel and the historical events it brings to life. This meant looking for a modern commentary, a way of looking back at the past from the present, which I think shines through beautifully in how we structured the piece and in Alexa's fabulous writing!

3. How does a show inspired by events from over a century ago speak to today's theatre audiences?

D.M.: Through striking similarities and subtle, fascinating differences! It speaks through the echoing promises of politicians from back then that sound so much like the ones we hear today. It speaks through the needs of the many, which remain just as vital now as they were then. We see it in the way mass manipulation for political gain hasn't changed, and how social and power dynamics have persisted over time. Ultimately, it connects with the audience through a powerful, captivating sense of déjà-vu!

4. Tell us more about the rehearsal process and working with such a wonderfully large cast! How do these elements shape the magic on stage, and what artistic decisions did you make?

D.M.: I think it's wonderful to share a bit about what it's like to create a musical under our current funding and production setup! Typically, musical theatre demands a very specific, step-by-step process. First, the script must be written, then the music must be composed, and then the actors need to master the songs inside and out before we can even begin what usually starts a play: the first read-through. You can't build the magic without those steps! The rhythm of the music dictates the timing of the action, the melodies shape how characters express their emotions, and the musical atmosphere must be supported by everything happening on stage. It's a creative puzzle with so many moving parts! That's why major musicals are usually developed over a very long time. However, when working within the tight timeline of AFCN funding, time is precious and limited, so our creative phases had to dance together! The script was still a work-in-progress during rehearsals, our brilliant musicians had to anticipate where the story was heading and constantly adapt their melodies, I had to keep reframing the staging, and our amazing actors had to learn and absorb all these exciting changes in record time! It is a lively, fast-paced challenge that requires a lot of flexibility, quick thinking, and a bit of crisis management. Fortunately, our cast is absolutely incredible—not only do they have the fantastic singing and acting skills a musical demands, but they also have the wonderful ability to embrace the unexpected with a smile!

5. What are the artistic and political goals you hope to reach with this show, and what do you hope the audience takes away?

D.M.: As always, my goal is to play with the exciting, expressive tools of musical theatre while keeping the storytelling deep and meaningful, rather than just pure entertainment. I love translating the grand sparkle of a musical into a cozy, intimate theatrical space with our unique production style. I want to stay true to Reactor's wonderful artistic mission while finding my own voice within it. Through this, I hope to create a show that sparks a beautiful sense of awareness and understanding! I believe that once you look past the historical costumes, you can see how certain social and political dynamics repeat themselves. On the spiral of history, we are at a point where things seem to echo the past—but it is also a point where we still have the power to learn, look ahead, and make better choices together!

This cultural program is co-funded by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The program does not necessarily represent the official 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 funding beneficiary.