September opens Reactor's tenth season, and on this wonderful occasion, we present the premiere of "Everybody's Child," created by Lucia Mărneanu—a close friend of our space and a multi-talented artist with whom we have collaborated from the very beginning. We asked Lucia to share a bit more with us about this amazing show, produced during her artistic residency right here at the Reactor of Creation and Experiment! 

The context of my artistic research—though that sounds a bit too serious, doesn't it?—is simply my inner world in relation to the universe outside. I love to create things that challenge me, things with which I share a deeply personal bond and know a little something about. Absolutely anything in this vein excites me, from the vibrant city I live in to the sweet relationship with my mother. Then, I find the perfect ways to bring them to life: through theatre, video, illustration, and more!

Right now, I am soaking up the beautiful summer, eagerly anticipating the premiere with a heart full of excitement, and writing a proposal for an upcoming artistic residency... I want to pitch a project featuring magnets! Fridge magnets all about Cluj. I want to see how I can play with this charming, seemingly minor craft to playfully subvert its meaning, representing Cluj on magnets through stories that go beyond the mainstream. How can the locals see themselves in all the rich complexity of the city they live in? I am imagining some really fun, thoughtful, and authentic pieces... for instance, a magnet featuring Flora Square in Mănăştur, or one showing Cluj with the cheeky caption, "Apres moi le deluge." 

I must admit I genuinely enjoy quieter, solitary processes, but the truth is I am never truly alone! I love receiving validation along the way—my wonderful little supports that I gather over drinks with friends, in hearty chats, or with artistic consultants. It has been a while since I had a project as wonderfully independent as "Everybody's Child," and it's a bit early to tell what changes in this setting. However, I suspect that my sense of responsibility towards the project is growing in the most exciting way—handling the promotion, getting it out into the world, entering festivals... This is a grand lesson that I both wanted and didn't want, something outside my comfort zone, where I feel the thrill of taking the bull by the horns and becoming my own manager. It's just like I did with "Almost Political Diary," an artist album launched in 2019 that currently rests mostly in boxes in my closet. I didn't quite know how to promote it or help it find its audience back then, but I have high hopes that this time will be absolutely wonderful!

When working on my own, compared to projects where I follow someone else's artistic vision, the true challenge is indeed the solitude. I love having an external eye to gently guide me. This time, that wonderful guide was Sinkó Ferenc, the artistic consultant for this show. In general, I'm an actress who can be quite clumsy and flustered when working with directors; I need a special bond with them, to truly like them and trust their vision. So, I adore my private creative process, just like I love being alone with a blank sheet of paper ready to be drawn on, or happily cooking solo in my kitchen! Zsófi Gábor, a lovely set designer friend, was talking to me the other day about deadlines... She wondered, when is a project's true deadline? The premiere? The official completion date? Or five shows later, when you finally feel confident in what you're doing? For this production, I find it incredibly satisfying to have the freedom of my own deadline... This show is entirely mine, and I can happily keep working on it and shaping it even after the premiere! 

From this creative journey, my main goal is to fully enjoy it and stay authentic—meaning I won't try to wear clothes that are too small or too big for me. I want to do what genuinely excites me right now, stay open-minded, and learn as I go! I don't have enough experience as a show creator to claim a specific method in the performance art scene. I'm not entirely sure why people get the impression that I work in performance art; I think it comes from my role in "Parallel," a show that indeed had a very strong performance dimension. But truth be told, performance art still feels a bit mysterious to me; I don't quite know how to do it authentically without just copying existing formulas. Perhaps there is a performance aspect to how I construct a show, but the end result is almost always delightfully theatrical. I absolutely love Theatre with a capital T—I am deeply in love with it! Within its classic, cozy boundaries, I feel perfectly safe. "Everybody's Child" is most definitely theatre!

I have a wonderful feeling that the show will be warmly received! Form-wise, we have already done a few intimate runs for small audiences during rehearsals, and people remarked how surprising it is that so much emotion can be expressed through such a simple and classic theatrical setup: just a person at a table. Because the setting is so beautifully minimalist, every tiny gesture takes on a larger, magical meaning. Content-wise, I hope it touches everyone's heart; we all have a mother somewhere—lost, loved, rediscovered, distant, unknown, within us, or in others... it is a beautifully universal theme, so I believe it will truly resonate!

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