CENSORSHIP!IdeologIcal censorshIp In theater In communIst romanIa

The pressure exercised on artists was immense, ubiquitous and continuous: it touched all existential and creative sec-tors and it knew multiple, proliferant forms. It reinforced the idea that the system was eternal, that another form of political existence in Romania, except for that of commu-nism, was impossible to imagine.

The ideological censorship of the arts in Romania pos-sessed an incontestable model the Bolshevik censorship but also a native origin: the military censorship from the war period and from those few years which preceded of-ficial domination by the communist government, with Sta-linist affiliation, in Bucharest, a censorship which the new regime of pretended democracy continued. Both of these sources strengthened its negative character. They partially explain the severity of the communist censorship in Roma-nia, which, during the long period of almost 45 years, had been subjected to a permanent re-adaptation according to the regimes ideological shifts.

Immediately after 1947-1948, the role of the newly created censorship body was to ensure a virulent propaganda that was imported with the Soviet tanks. Adherence to socialist realism, implementation of the new values of the proletar-iat, and strict observance of ideological purity were part of the censorships concerns. In the 60s, attention focused on issues of civic morality, with censors dealing with sexual representations on stage or with counteracting possible hippie influences. In the 80s, the stage had to be protect-ed by reality itself, which had degraded to such an extent that even allusions to it would not be allowed; words such as dark, meat, or cold had become prohibit.

Yet, precisely because of this extreme degradation of reali-ty, and in a context where truth could not be told and social action was impossible, theater had become (over)charged with a representational mandate depict, speak of or at least hint at the real through the fictional. Going to theater became, towards the mid and late 1980s, almost a dissident

act. The theater experience allowed a sense of community, of secret complicity, between audience and performers, which fraternized against them (the regime). It is, in fact, mostly a splendid illusion of both participants in the theatrical communication, that of conventionally agreeing on some hidden meanings and of producing this way some sort of a justified catharsis, simulating the opposition. (Miruna Runcan)

As Cipriana Petre argues, the regimes harsh oppressive-ness had insidiously developed a predisposition of the audience to read subversiveness in any gesture. It ex-plains the audiences complicity with the performers when going to theater ready to burst into applause at any literal blinking of an actor (you know what I mean) or at any render-potentiality of the dramatic text to be understood other than literally.2

But this representational mandate and sense of a shared complicity was crucially linked to the new direction that had developed in Romanian theater in the 1970s, the so-called RE-THEATRICALIZATION OF THE THEATER. It marked a profound shift of focus from the text towards the directing, a new directorial vision that moved away from the bourgeois theater towards more innovative and radically performative theatrical experiences. In a context where the ideological discourse was overly present, this new direction allowed reality to be conveyed through a channel of metaphor and elusive meanings.

This enriched text, structured at multiple levels of interpre-tation, became much more difficult to supervise and control. It made the censors task much more complicated they needed to balance personal mechanisms of the imaginary, while assuming and anticipating not only the potential reac-tions of the public but also the reactions of their superiors.

In Ceauescus Romania there was officially no censor-ship. The censorship bureau had been abolished in 1977

The arTIsTs ThaT lefT The counTry on TIme are The ones who, In facT, saved Themselves. They are The only ones whIch, for noT havIng been Touched by censorshIp, remaIned pure. we all The oThers have been, To varyIng degrees, TaInTed by IT.(ARGuES dIRECTOR MIHAI MNIuIu, wHOSE STAGING OF BLAGAS wATER TuRMOIL wAS BANNEd ANd NEvER REACHEd THE AudIENCE)

Based on a text By Liviu MaLia1

to give a human face to his regime. In practice, however, the re-ideologization that started in 1971 made censorship insidious, pervasive, and less permissive, in a more compli-cated multi-layered system whose criteria and procedures were unclear, leading to the rule of the arbitrary and a toxic environment for creativity.

This complexity behind the deceiving simplicity of the official faade, the lack of all written proof, and the ephemeral nature of theater itself make it impossible to recreate today with precision the censorship mechanism (as literature, for instance, could allow). what follows is a brief attempt at reconstruction based on the testi-monies partial and often contradictory of those that witnessed, endured, and harnessed it and are willing to talk about it.

noveMBer 2009

1 this text is an abridged version of the dark stage by Liviu Malia introduction to the volume theater during and after communism [viaa teatral n i dup comunism], Liviu Malia (ed.), efes Publishing, Cluj 2006. it also references the articles Wasted Morning: from text to performance by anca Haiegan, and Mecanisms and institutions of censorship by Miruna runcan from the same book. translated from the romanian by Julie dawson.

2 Cipriana Petre: twice-Mapping romania: towards a Performative Gridding of Politics and a Political Cartography of theater in communism and Post-communism, Phd dis-sertation, uC irvine-uC san diego Joint doctoral Program in theater and drama, 2008

censorshIp!

2

County CoMMittee for CuLture and soCiaList eduCation

CuLture dePartMent of tHe PeoPLes CounCiL (LoCaL GovernMent)

seCretary GeneraL of tHe roManian CoMMunist Party [sinCe 1965: niCoLae CeauesCu]

PoLitiCaL Bureau (dePartMent of ProPaGanda) of tHe CentraL CoMMittee of tHe roManian CoMMunist Party

seCretariat for reGionaL / County ProPaGanda of tHe roManian CoMMunist PartyWorkers CoMMittee / direCtor of a

PuBLiCation or PuBLisHinG House / tHeater

editor of a MaGazine or PuBLisHinG House / Literary seCretariat of a tHeater

autHor / artist (PLayWriGHt, staGe direCtor, aCtor, staGe desiGner, etC.)

dePartMent for tHeaters WitHin tHe Ministry of CuLture (CounCiL for CuLture and soCiaList eduCation)

GeneraL dePartMent for Press and PuBLiCations(offiCiaLLy CLosed in 1977, WitH its resPonsiBiLities taken over By tHe CounCiL for CuLture and soCiaList eduCation)

reConstruCtion of tHe CensorsHiP MeCHanisM

LeGend

C professional and administrative instancesC political instances (of the Communist Party) (following the soviet model, a system of double structures with overlapping responsibilities existed in the administration and the communist party, in order to allow for a complete oversight and decision by the party.)

note: Modifications of the institutes specializing in the supervision of art, culture, and information, and of the mechanisms occurred in time, but they are insignificant and do not alter the core mechanism described.

3censorshIp!

tHe CoMPLiCated PatH of CensorsHiP Was Part of a PoLiCy of disCouraGeMent, erosion and exasPeration, intended to ProduCe tHe CaPituLations required to Create an aCCePtaBLe PerforManCe in tHe inCreasinGLy Weary eyes of tHe Party.

In order for a theater to stage a play, it needed to either be a published play (which had already passed all censor-ship filters in order to reach publication) or be considered favorable by the General department for Press and Publica-tions, a body that, between 1949 and 1977, played the role of the specialized body of censorship. Subsequently, its duties were carried out by less visible administrative bodies though they were not any more tolerant.

The approval of a text did not guarantee access to the stage. It only created the possibility for the play to be proposed for a project of repertoire, which would be, in turn, approved by specialized bodies, both local and central. The right to propose a text alone was awarded late to the theater. In the years 1948 and 1949, a Bureau of Repertory from the Ministry of Arts and Information dictated to every theater the plays which were to be played within a season. Not only were changes to titles nonnegotiable, but also the order of the presentation over the course of the season. In the following years, due to the impossibility of following these rigid principles and to the chaos created, this nomination from the center was replaced by a different method.The General department for Press and Publications elaborated lists of approved texts from which a theater was allowed to choose. After 1956 the possibility for playwrights to submit plays to theaters or for the literary secretariat of the theater to propose a play was added. Teatrul magazine, as well as other cultural periodicals which published original or translated dramatic texts (such as Steaua, Tribuna, Gazeta Literar, Romnia literar, Contemporanul, viaa Romneasc, Secolul XX) constituted a potential reservoir of selection.

It was then necessary for the repertoireproposal, along with a detailed justificatory memo drawn up by the literary secretariat, to obtain the INTERNAL APPROvAL, from the workers Committee of the Theater, with the obligatory approval of the director.

start

However, the EXTERNAL APPROvALS that followed were truly the crucial ones, to be provided in an official written form. An analysis by specialty instructors, followed by discussions between the director of the national depart-ment for Theaters and the director of the theater (or a delegation thereof ) were required before obtaining the approval. Approvals could also follow a thematic, regional and/or national conference.

The inclusion of a play in the list of a theaters rep-ertoire and its approval to enter into rehearsal did not close, but instead, opened a series of new mutilating operations before it could become a theater performance. Staging a play was subjected to other ideological rigors and was forced to travel its own path of the censorship proc-ess. The ENTIRE CYCLE was obsessively repeated until exhaustion: previewing commissions succeeded each other within a hierarchic multi-level system of censorship before approving the shows premiere.

The INTERNAL PREvIEw by the theaters workers Com-mittee. Although compulsory and constituting in itself a guarantee, this internal preview represented, by and large, a formality. Professional problems were, with mediocrity, discussed and, in fortunate cases, even a strategy to protect the show would be established. Other times, however, this was turned into an arena for settling accounts and for ex-pressing old frustrations or rancor.

The IdEOLOGICAL PREvIEw was the only one able to give a decisive verdict. In one preview or numerous subsequent ones, this external ideological commission was composed of the head or delegates of the myriad of institutions at the local, regional and national level, belonging both to the cultural administration and the party instances: the local government (Culture depart-ment of the Peoples Council); the regional County Committee for Culture and Socialist Education; the secretary for propa-ganda of the Partys County Office; one or more specialized inspectors of the national culture authority (Council for Culture and Socialist Education) in charge with the respective region. The ideological commission would also include members of the theater staff who had political, union, or professional responsi-bilities; sometimes, depending on higher orders or interests, it would also include various guests: cultural and artistic figures, journalists from party newspapers, editors of cultural maga-zines, university professors, or workers.

For the productions that were perceived as ideologically-proof and non-problematic, one preview could clear them for public performance and the premiere would follow. For the problematic ones, however, subsequent previews and committees were set up, requesting changes and cuts, and then re-evaluating the productions. The more contentious the production, the more prominent the members of the ideological committee, up to though rarely representa-tives of the department of Propaganda of the Central Com-mitte of the Communist Party.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

891011...

censorshIp!

4

the 70s marked the birth of a new direction in romanian theater, the so-called re-theatricalization of the theater, a new directorial vision that moves away from the bourgeois theater towards more innovative and radically performa-tive theatrical experiences. in a context where the ideological discourse was overly present, this profound shift of focus from the text towards the directing allowed reality to be conveyed through a channel of metaphor and elusive meanings. it also marked a change in the censorship process, which became insidious and overly present, particularly after the scandal that followed the banning of Lucian Pintilies staging of the inspector General in 1972. the increasing pressure of censorship leads or forces many of the leading directors of the 70s to emigrate or work abroad: Liviu Ciulei, david esrig, radu Penciulescu, Lucian Pintilie, andrei erban.

Ceauescu visits China, north korea and north vietnam, and takes great interest in the idea of a total national transformation, decreeing upon his return the launch of a mini cultural revolution for a total national transformation (the July theses). this annulled the relative cultural liberalization that followed 1965 and led to an exacerbation of ideological propaganda fueling Ceauescus cult of personality. new forms of ideology-charged spectacle emerge, with a propen-sity for gigantic scenographies, having the population as both a captive audience and a forced participant, celebrating the Party, its leader, and the golden age of romanian communism.

(1970s)

What follows is an attempt to provide snapshots of the last two decades of the communist regime in romania, and to offer a background of the pervasive ideologization of arts and culture and the endeavors of resistance (with a focus on the performing arts, as well as, given their symbolical importance, on literature and cinema). their choice is aimed at presenting not just landmark events, but also at introducing relevant institutions, mechanisms, phenomena, and it is neither extensive, nor exemplary.

selectIVe tImelIne of key events in PoLitiCs, arts and CuLture in roMania 19701989.

(JuL 1971)

The discussions on the artistic quality of the perform-ance that followed were nothing else but a tedious session of meaningless talk; bored, the censors themselves had given up within the last years: They werent following the show anymore, recalls victor Rebengiuc, except from the ideological perspective: if anything is said against the Party, if there is anything dangerous there, [], ifanything is said about the head of the state, if the central committee is attacked or not, things like that. The rest didnt interest them.

Minutes from the sessions conducted by the ideologi-cal previewers prove that there existed, for the most part, two sorts of oxymoronic observations: on the one hand, those which stemmed from the CENSORS FEAR OF METAPHOR ANd SYMBOLS. These observations most often sent shivers down their spines, because they werent completely sure how they were to be interpreted or, more precisely, how they would be interpreted by the moguls from the higher echelons of the party.

as tHe ideoLoGiCaL PrevieW unfoLded, tHe Censor Was instaLLed in an oBsCure Box, ProteCted froM tHe indisCreet Looks of tHe aCtors But attentiveLy WatCHed By tHe direCtor (WHo, as vaLeriu MoisesCu reCaLLs WitH HuMor, foLLoWs tHe entire PerforManCe tHrouGH a sMaLL HoLe in tHe Curtain, WatCHinG tHe faCe of duMitru PoPesCu God). tHis uPsets tHe raPPort of tHe sHoWs forCes: throughout the preVIew, the dark box of the censor became the true stage of the theater.

Conversely, other observations hinted at LOCALIZA-TION: the same fear was, this time, activated by precise space-time directions, which evoked too directly, in text or performance, the immediate Romanian reality, the com-munist context, etc. And in this case they would require damping, de-contextualization, ambiguity. There were two different ways of forbidding, in the end, the same thing:

THE CRITERIA, well known, however imprecise, did noth-ing but create confusion and increase the discouragement anticipated with this sort of preview; rarely were these sad expectations contradicted. They fluctuated depending on the synapses of the ideology (Gabriela Adameteanu), on the caprices of the censors, but also the metamorphoses of reality: common words, such as meat, coffee, cold, darkness became forbidden on stage simply because in daily life meat was absent from the market, while cold and darkness invaded homes. Thus, something which could be tolerated in the 70s because it was considered simple critical realism became, one decade later, explosive and dissident. It could be said that

notHinG aBout roMania or CoMMunisM Was aLLoWed to Go outside tHe Boundaries of tHe ProsCriBed CoMMunist LeGend

tHe ProGressive deGradation of reaLity Had ideoLoGiCaLLy radiCaLized tHe fiCtitious.

5censorshIp!

authorities revoke the romanian citizenship of novelist dumitru epeneag, which had become direc-tor of the french magazine Cahiers de lest. He is considered guilty of inciting romanian writers to write works hostile to the cultural policy of our party and to illegally transmit them abroad.

Writer William totok, member of the Banat action Group (aktionsgruppe Banat) in timioara is arrested and accused of propaganda against socialist order. this literary group of romanian-German writers seeking freedom of expression dissolves at the pressure of the securitate.

(1975)

ode to romania (Cntarea romniei) is inaugurated as a national festival of socialist culture. its declared aim is to involve and promote the working class in an artistic program of music, poetry and dance. overnight, performing companies, music bands, and artistic brigades are established in factories and schools all over the country. this general and forced mobilization, year round, to the creation of a popular art becomes an increasingly greater vehicle for a nationalist-patriotic ideology and Ceauescus personality cult. its celebration of amateur arts, verging at times on kitsch, aimed at downplaying the professionalized elites.

Psychiatrist ion vianu publishes an article denouncing the use of psychiatric abuses in romania, and is later forced to emigrate. from outside of romania, he contributed at raising the awareness of the international community in regard to these practices. the abusive use of psychiatry for the persecution of the dissidents of the regime, formalized in 1965, is just one of the many faces the communist oppression took in romania, which boasted between March 1945 and december 1989 over three hundred institutions of political repres-sion (political prisons, forced labor camps, deportation centers, headquarters for inquiries, psychiatric asylums with political character, and execution sites), and over two million victims (at a population of 23 million in 1989). it has been argued that the cruel repression and terror that characterized the romanian communist regime at different stages has erased, after the last figures of the armed resistance had been annihilated at the beginning of the 60s, any chance not only of revolt, but even dissent.

(1976) (1976)

Writer Paul Gomas public letter calling for respect for human rights in romania and for romanians to sign Charter 77 was read on radio free europe. as a result, he was repeatedly followed, arrested, and tortured by the securitate. in nov 1977, he and his family were revoked the romanian citizenship and forced into exile in france.

(feB 1977)

The rise of personal whims to the level of criteria for political evaluations consolidated the LEAdERSHIP OF THE ARBI-TRARY (Everything is potentially dangerous, thus every-thing can be censored), just as the ineptitude and ruin of the system produced an involuntarily subversive literature.

Previews balanced predictably between mind-boggling stupidity(Ion Besoiu) and the super-realist absurd. The censors projected themselves into the mind of the dictator, trying to anticipate the most minute element which could cause his displeasure.

tHe ideoLoGiCaL Purity WHatever reMained of it Was CertainLy defended: tHere Were unaPProaCHaBLe suBJeCts and forBidden toPiCs. HoWever, as tHe doGMas tHeMseLves Had faLLen into ridiCuLousness and Were visiBLy sHatterinG, CensorsHiP Was funCtioninG More and More aCCordinG to caprIces and fear (irina PetresCu).

Almost all testimonies nowadays speak of the abnormal FEAR OF THE FINAL SOLdIERS OF THE SYSTEM AS IT ENTEREd dISSOLuTION: They were afraid for their skin, says Magdalena Boiangiu; They were sick with fear, remembers Ion Besoiu, Once bitten, twice shy. Prison-ers of an (anti)Kafka-ian world atrocious, occult, and faceless in which you could never know from whence the peril comes but you can sense it everywhere, the censors themselves appear to the witnesses as some poor victims:

exCePt tHat niCoLae CeauesCu never attended tHe tHeater.

Fear explains, to an extent, their paradoxical behavior. Asperity and intolerance grew proportionally with it. (Magdalena Boiangiu lays the blame: censors hated and detested each other because they were witnesses to their reciprocal humiliations.) Here also lies the explanation and their desire of complicity with the true victims: some things, declares Gabriela Adameteanu, would not have been possible without there having existed, somewhere, a complicity with censors. They did eliminate something in order to prove they had done something, to demonstrate they had done their duty, but neither did they stop the show. Magdalena Boiangiu speaks, in her turn, about the evident efforts to suggest that they were on our side.

tHey Were tHe Bosses of a WorLd WHiCH tHey tHeMseLves feared.

a devastating earthquake hits Bu-charest, and becomes the pretext for the extension of the urban plan-ning program of systematization launched in 1974 that will go on till 1989. entire neighborhoods, histori-cal monuments and churches are erased, in some cities up to 90%, and its inhabitants forced to move. the construction of new working neighborhoods of generally low-quality apartment buildings (blocuri) intensifies, including in the rural areas (with a declared aim of 90% of peasants lo live in blocuri). internal and international protests, in the 80s in particular, helped the safeguarding of a few monuments by moving and hiding them within the new constructions.

(Mar 1977)

censorshIp!

6

the strike of the Jiu valley coal miners, protesting against a new pensions law and poor and dangerous working and living conditions, was one of the largest protest movements of the com-munist period, gathering 35,000 miners. it climaxed in the miners holding the prime minister captive for a day until Ceauescus arrival. after giving the appearance of acquiescing to the workers de-mands, a campaign for capturing its ringleaders ensued, sending them away or imprisoning them, and reneging on concessions.

Literary critic and journalist Monica Lovinescu, detested and feared by the regime for her critical contribution as a cultural commentator for radio free europe, is severely beaten up outside her Paris home on the orders of the romanian communist authorities. radio free europe remained until 1989 a crucial source of alternative information to the official all-pervasive propaganda.

following the earthquake, ndric (Puppet) theater is closed down for renovation a blow for the contemporary dance community which had found here, since late 1960s, a unique venue allowing a continuous presentation of contemporary dance. the movement at ndric theater had been an initiative of pioneer choreographer Miriam rducanu, who was also the professor of an entire generation of choreographers (among whom Gigi Cciuleanu or raluca ianegic). Contemp Group (choreog-raphers adina Cezar, sergiu anghel and others) is established in 1974, remaining till 1989 the only organized form of contemporary dance in the country. after 1977 they performed sporadically in various theaters or mu-seums, as well as bars or private apartments. By mid-1980s, contemporary dance declines on account of the compulsory involvement of romanian dancers and choreographers in the large propaganda events.

securitate General ion Mihai Pacepa, the acting chief of the espionage service, defects to the us. its disclo-sures played in the 80s a huge role in revealing the criminal nature of the regime and the oppressive securitate and gave a crucial blow to Ceauescus image as the maver-ick eastern european.

the romanian free union of Work-ers is established in various cities throughout the country, marking perhaps the most important workers movement since the 1977 miners strike and up to the 1987 revolt in Braov. its leaders (vasile Paraschiv, ionel Can and Gheorghe Braoveanu) and its members are arrested and isolated, and the movement is annihilated.

in response to the deepening of the economic crisis that followed 1973, decisions on rationing electricity and gas consumption are issued, marking the start of the power shortages that will accentuate par-ticularly after 1984. although 90% of power consumption is engulfed by the heavy industrial complex developed in the 70s and 80s as part of a campaign of national self-sufficiency, it is the population that is asked to bear a continuous cut in electricity, heat and water supplies, verging towards the end to the inhuman.

(auG 1977) (1977) (1978) (MaraPr 1979) (JuL 1979)

Moreover,although always concentrated in the hands of a single person who at that time momentarily embodied the inflexible will of the party, the decision was shown as collective, which, according to the party propaganda, granted it inherent authority. The absence of one nomi-nal RESPONSIBILITY subsequently became a pretext for claiming lack of culpability and a source of investiga-tive difficulties.

Its promoters were also careful to ERASE ANY RECORd. Not one written act, with the exception of the minutes of the ideological commissions meetings, drawn up by inside people and kept in the archives of the theater, in a regime of confidentiality, was produced. The approval was verbal, allowing it to be, therefore, easily rescinded at any point in time. The same applied to banned performances, which became, as a result, more difficult to dispute.

the complIcIty of the censors Was, HoWever, seLeCtive: WitH soMe yes, WitH otHers no. at tHeteatruL MiC (sMaLL tHeater), Led By an aCtivist, dinu sraru, tHey didnt CoMe to PrevieWs too often, affirMs viCtor reBenGiuC. BeCause He Was a Party Person, He didnt Have His Hands tied. in tHe oPPosite situation, tHe testiMony of MiHai Mniuiu Can Be quoted; desPerate to see His sHoW Water turMoiL By LuCian BLaGa Banned, Mr. Mniuiu is said to Have requested a MeetinG WitH toP offiCiaL MiHaiL duLea to neGotiate tHe sHoWs aPProvaL: i WouLd Have Been WiLLinG to Cut froM tHe text or tHe PerforManCe BeCause i Was aWare tHere WouLd Have Been enouGH reMaininG anyWay. i Was not Given tHis riGHt. tHe MeetinG Was refused.

This is an example of radicalization. In general, however, the censors were preoccupied with imposing modifications and with approving the performance.

They represented part of a ritual of subjugation and functioned as symbolic acts verifying the fact that the author, the director, the actor the artist in gen-eral caught in the jaws of a mechanism without any escape, would accept censorship.

tHese CHanGes Were not asked for onLy in order to ProteCt tHe ideoLoGiCaL Purity of tHe text or PerforManCe.

tHey Were equivaLent to tHe feudaL exerCises of tHe vassaL.

7censorshIp!

at the 12th Congress of the Communist Party, Constantin Prvulescu, the oldest member of the partys Central Committee, protests against the accumulation of power by nicolae Ceauescu and the undemocratic means of its reelection as secretary general of the party. Prvulescu is evacuated from his house the same night.

Marin Predas novel Cel mai iubit dintre pmnteni (the Most Beloved Man on earth) is published, a month before the suspect death of its author. a critique of the absurdity of the regime, the book registers a huge audience success, people standing in line to purchase it. after a few short weeks, the novel is withdrawn from all libraries and bookshops. a thirst for a dissident voice, as metaphorical as that may be, makes reading and the search for books an extremely important part of survival, with other popular authors whose books are highly sought and revered.

rationing and quotas for food are introduced, marking the start of the food shortages that will become endemic through the 80s, turning the securing of basic food into an all-consuming daily ordeal.

2050 years from the creation of the first centralized state in dacia are celebrated, just one example of the ideology of self-sufficient nationalism and the pervasive subordination of history to the politics of the day.

Lucian Pintilies movie de ce trag clopotele, Mitic? (Carnival scenes) is banned, and will be released only in 1990, and Pintilie is pressured into leaving the country. Pintilies previous encounter with censorship his remarkable 1969 film reenactment brought him the interdiction to produce a film for the next 12 years. Liviu Ciuleis internationally-recognized movie forest of the Hanged (1964) resulted in Ciulei never having directed a film afterwards. While censorship encompassed all creative disciplines, cinema had become Ceauescus propaganda toy and was particularly hit by censorship.

(nov 1979) (feB 1980) (1980) (1980) (1981)

the publishing of the collective poetry book air with diamonds marks the official birth of the eighties literary movement (optzecism) of a post-modernist vein, which extends outside of the literary world. it marks a national phenomenon of the young genera-tion, dubbed the jeans generation, that reacts to the oppressive conformism of the official culture by developing an underground movement in literature, music and visual arts in unconventional set-tings (such as Club a or atelier 35). though not openly opposing the regime, its creating of an alterna-tive to the suffocating propaganda is in itself seen as subversive.

(feB 1981)

WHat PerforManCes Put tHe Censors on aLert? reGardLess of tHe artistiC quaLity, froM tHe PersPeCtive of tHe Censors, aLL tHeater PerforManCes rePresented a suBversive PotentiaL for tHe CoMMunist reGiMe. Moreover, tHe deGradation of tHe systeM Was so advanCed By tHe 80s, tHe finaL staGe of its existenCe, tHat art Had BeCoMe in and of itseLf susPeCt in tHe eyes of tHe Party, reGardLess of tHe toPiC. there exIsted, thus, performances whIch were rejected sImply because they were artIstIc, sInce the apolItIcal In theater (and not only In theater) was consIdered a (condemnable) form of eVasIon.

Then, there were also two other categories that raised the censors attention. On the one hand, those which sent mes-sages whether transparently so, or by means of allegory and/or allusions, resembling the novels with a hidden message on political or social reality, to which they were trying to provide a response. On the other hand, great productions based on texts of high artistic quality (Here are to be mentioned masterpieces of universal and Romanian theater Shakespeare, Caragiale, Greek tragedies, classics in general), also associated with and amplified by the force of a great director and virtuously performed by excellent ac-tors. Thematically, this sort of production was not tangible to immediate reality, but the vitality given by its artistic quality and its force gave it the ability at any time to act as dynamite in the conscience of the spectators.

Generally speaking, the stagings of the texts of contem-porary authors, especially Romanians, were meticulously analyzed in fear of what the jargon of the period called oprle (lizards) which these texts sometimes cultivated (oprle referred to the Aesopian language used in jokes

or in order to create comic situations, conveying a hidden meaning that usually referred to the hardships of everyday life, which functioned like a salvation vent). This could also have been the case for mediocre plays which had an explicit degree of subversiveness. Their success with the public depended almost exclusively on parading this arsenal (in the end, quite minor). This kind of production was able to send tremors to thepolitical spectators designated with supervision censors and party activists due to its trans-parency and thematic accessibility. Even if, in reality, many of these (like the dissident poems of Adrian Punescu) represented nothing other than the security valves of the system encouraged, when not outright created by people from the inside they created concern, thanks to thecom-plicity the author had with his public, over the heads of the censors. Condemned to be understood, and especially tasted, only by contemporaries, many of these texts (as well as performances) have become forgotten today.

censorshIp!

8

Ceauescu launches his autarchic campaign of no foreign debt, that will lead to the extreme shortages of food and the most basic commodities.

the transcendental Meditation scandal erupts, a vast ideological repression of intellectuals. Hun-dreds of writers, artists, scientists that took part to classes presenting an oriental technique of relaxation are destituted, on account of having carried out subversive activities against the state.

dan Pias movie sandcliffs is withdrawn from cinemas three days after its release, with no explanations, and the lucky few that managed to see it spread the word about it.

rock band timpuri noi is formed, set out to write a politically charged mix of new wave, rock & roll, and hard rock. timpuri noi stood out by the subversive lyrics of their songs, which soon got them banned from public radio and television. rock bands like Phoenix (whose members left the country illegally in 1977), Mondial, sfinx, rou i negru, iris, Compact, or Holograf had been providing since the 60s and 70s an alternative to the conformism of the official culture, and had often encountered difficulties with the censorship. for many of them, particularly in the 80s, their public exposure was limited to very small venues, such as Club a the student club of the architecture university in Bucharest, and one of the outposts of romanian underground music in the 80s.

doina Cornea, a professor at the university of Cluj-napoca, starts her series of open letters ad-dressed to nicolae Ceauescu and read at radio free europe that will continue till 1989. Persecuted by the securitate, she became one of the most known dissidents.

(1982) (1982) (1982) (1982) (1982)

In contrast, classics texts, but also notable works of contemporary Romanian authors playwrights (Marin So-rescu, Teodor Mazilu, Iosif Naghiu and others) or novelists (Gabriela Adameteanu) , operating with a subversive po-tential which was non-thematic, ambiguous, non-explicit, were leading to performances which, apparently paradoxi-cally so, sometimes carried the ideological vision more easily than others; the easier they did, the less accessible this was to the censors.

Conversely, a too accentuated abstruseness could be fatal for the performance. Terrified by his own inability to under-stand, the censor preferred to forbid the performance in order to avoid the risk which could never be completely eliminated. In the absence of precise criteria and under pressure from a tyrannical and merciless hierarchy, while also unsure of itself,

onCe BrouGHt to tHe audienCe, tHey suCCeeded in ConveyinG a sense of dissent, aLonG WitH a CatHartiC exPerienCe. tHis Was no LonGer aBout oPrLe But ratHer aBout artiCuLatinG, By tHe Most autHentiC and Profound Means, a voiCe, a revoLt of ConsCienCe WHiCH WouLd ProduCe a true sHoCk in tHe sPeCtator. tHe iMPaCt on tHe PuBLiC Was enorMous.

The beauty unfortunately extremely fragile, as it always appears in theater of such performances left a sense of the miraculous with many generations of spectators, who sensed, with greatly enhanced intensity, an experience des-tined to remain that which was also intended by their great creators: a perennial opera of art.

Indeed, many lines, eliminated in the preview but replaced on stage by performative and visual means, sent shivers through the censors, hidden like agents of the dark in plush theater balconies, from where they watched, horrified, to see the explosive and contaminating, electrifying reaction of the audience.

Other performances were deliberately allowed to be per-formed. difficult to be deciphered by the censors them-selves, it was assumed that they would not be appreciated by the greater public either. Most occasions, these predictions were not only delusional but indeed violently contradicted.

no one CouLd ever Be Certain tHat tHe deCision Made Was tHe CorreCt one.

9censorshIp!

SCHEDULED LOSSES

ANY IdEOLOGICAL PREvIEw wAS REPEATEd AS MANY TIMES AS NECESSARY, ANd NOTHING IMPEdEd A CENSOR FROM bannIng a performance ON THE THRESHOLd OF ITS PREMIERE IF THEY CONSIdEREd IT POLITICALLY OPPORTuNISTIC TO dO SO. THE PROduCTION EXPENSES INCuRREd BY THE THEATER, NEvER NEGLIGIBLE, wERE CONSIdEREd

emigration reaches a record high, with more than 19,000 people leaving romania for the usa, West Germany, or israel. illegal defection

many times met by death coex-ists with legal emigration following years of red tape. the majority of the German and Jewish communi-ties, in particular, are allowed to leave the country, many times in exchange for the economic help of their countries of destination (particularly West Germany).

Mircea daneliucs movie Glis-sando, a parable about totalitarian-ism and intolerance, is forbidden from public release by censorship. in a letter addressed to sev-eral magazines, daneliuc protests against the practice of movies im-provement by scissors. the movie is released only in september 1984 in a censored version.

Gabriel Liiceanus Pltini diary, evoking the paideia approach of philosopher Constantin noica, is published. the safeguarding through culture approach is met with wide interest, becoming a creed of resistance for many intellectuals. in hindsight, Liiceanu observed that this model created professionals or even virtuosos of culture, but inhibited any overt opposition.

Mihai Mniuius staging of Lucian Blagas tulburarea apelor (Water turmoil) was banned and never reached the audience.

forced gynecological control to detect early pregnancies is estab-lished in factories, to counteract the decrease of birth rates that followed the initial surge brought by the famed 1966 decree forbidding abortion. the latter is estimated to have cost the life of more than 10,000 women.

(1982) (Jan 1983) (1983) (1983) (1984)

the construction of the House of People (to become the 2nd largest building in the world) and the surrounding complex begins in Bucharest, leading to the erasure of a large part of the city.

(1984)

censorshIp!

10

tv reduced to two hours/day, mostly propaganda, making the television of neighboring countries (particularly Bulgaria and yugoslavia) an alternative with a large following.

following casualties at a concert, Cenaclul flacra is terminated. Launched in 1973, this itinerant event of poetry, folk and rock music animated by poet adrian Punescu was unique in the era: instrumen-talized by the regime, on the one hand, with its patriotic poems and orated songs; highly sought by young audiences that fought to get a ticket and filled stadiums and halls, in search for a different type of music. it was a compromise accepted by both audiences and musicians, since it allowed for a rare openness towards the West (the appropriation of Western artists of the Woodstock genera-tion), and for quality music to be performed, conveying a perverse illusion of freedom.

engineer and poet Gheorghe ursu is arrested and tortured to death by the securitate for sending letters to radio free europe and for his criticism of the regime in his personal journal. the difficult quest for justice of his family after 1989 remains an indication of the slow pace in revisiting the recent past and assuming responsibility and accepting guilt.

alexandru dabijas staging of Conul Leonida fa cu reaciunea at youth theater in Piatra neam premieres after a painstaking process of negotiating with censors during 17 ideological previews. dabijas contemporary reading of the 1880 play by romanian classic play-wright ion Luca Caragiale (centered on a republican pensioner and his naive wife, who overhear a street brawl and believe that a revolution is imminent) was centered on the pathological fear and suspicion of its characters mirroring the decaying atmosphere of the last years of the communist regime.

Premiere of Wasted Morning, based on Gabriela adameteanus eponymous novel, adapted and directed by Ctlina Buzoianu at Bulandra theater in Bu-charest. Published in 1983 with a few cuts required by the censorship, Gabriela adameteanus novel Wasted Morning (diminea pierdut) is a parable of romanias history as a continuum of historical cleavages that overwhelmingly mark the destiny of the individual. in a puzzle-like structure that covered almost the entire 20th century, it spoke with urgency and profound identifica-tion to its readers, making it one of the most important books of the 1980s. the stage adaptation by Ctlina Buzoianu, which went as well through a long censorship review process, not only wonderfully adapted the continuous shifts of time and place in the book, but achieved to convey both the tragic and the inter-dependency between history and the individual destiny.

(1985) (Jun 1985) (1985) (aPr 1986) (deC 1986)

From the other side, the dEFENSE STRATEGIES against ideological censorship in theater reunited voluntary and elaborate tactics, as well as spontaneous slyness.

The opposition of Romanian artists, in general, did not surpass, with rare exceptions, the trench fighting level (Magdalena Boiangiu), with doubtful and debatable vic-tories. The very nature of theater brought about a specific tension. The impossibility of using a strategy of expressive and durable silence, such as that available to writers, was permanently fueling a drive to get to the public presenta-tion of the performance.

The same fear of not stifling creativity made possible the much-mentioned SOLIdARITY OF THE COMPA-NY OF ACTORS. Solidarity and abnegation are extolled

by david Esrig:For the production of Shakespeares The Tempest, actors from the Bucharest National Theater had rehearsed for two years without knowing whether they would be allowed to perform the play. It stood for the entire team as an act of faith in the age-lessness of art. The show was forbidden and was never publicly presented.

TOdAY, decades away, the attitudes of the artists differ: some, while wanting to maintain intact the sense of com-munity and of mature artistic fulfillment of those days, accept however the confession; others, by associating their hardship and the unjust indignity suffered, would prefer to bury them in the forgetfulness that, they believe, should cover forever those terrible times and their mon-sters. The refusal to speak, the suspicions, whether justi-fied or not, the fears and defacements show, moreover, how twisted this period was and how little assimilated and formed is our recent memory, still full of wounds.

tHe Purity Was not PossiBLe (direCtor MiHai Mniuiu firMLy states), WHiLe an outsPoken oPPosition, PuBLiCLy assuMed, did not exist. roManian CoMMunisM did not toLerate a sinGLe forM of direCt dissidenCe. it Was BrutaLLy rePriManded, aLWays (and CrediBLy) tHreatened By exterMination, exPuLsion, exiLe.

tHe Pressure exerCised on artists Was iMMense, uBiquitous and Continuous: it touCHed aLL existentiaL and Creative seCtors and it kneW MuLtiPLe, ProLiferant forMs. it reinforCed tHe idea tHat tHe systeM Was eternaL, tHat anotHer forM of PoLitiCaL existenCe in roMania, exCePt for tHat of CoMMunisM, Was iMPossiBLe to iMaGine. tHis rePresents tHe true Great PerforManCe of tHe CensorsHiP.

Only in the terminal phases of totalitarianism did it also become possible for us, as everywhere, to express some forms of dissidence to the dogmas, sacrosanct at the beginning, now utterly ridiculous at the end. The imposed collaboration ended by becoming inevitable and necessary to the ones that didnt choose to save themselves by leav-ing the country.

11

censorshIp!

Mikhail Gorbachev visits Bucharest and indirectly criticizes the lack of reforms of the Ceauescu regime.

the Workers revolt in Braov: thousands of workers from the two main factories in Braov, joined by other inhabitants of the city, marched to the romanian Commu-nist Party headquarters, protesting against the regimes catastrophic economic policies. the army was brought in to brutally repress the revolt, with protesters arrested, beaten and tortured.

arrest of three journalists that had prepared an illegal publication, romania, with articles against Ceauescu, which, except for their leader, Petre Mihai Bcanu, are later released and forced to leave Bucharest.

six Communist dignitaries sign an open letter displaying a left-wing critique of Ceauescus policies (the Letter of the six). their signato-ries, led by silviu Brucan, are swiftly arrested and interrogated, then placed in house arrest.

french newspaper Libration publishes a satirical letter to Ceauescu written by poet Mircea dinescu, living in Bucharest under house arrest. three days later, seven intellectuals sign a letter of solidarity with dinescu.

(May 1987) (15 nov 1987) (Jan 1989) (6 Mar 1989) (Mar 1989)

the human chain formed on dec. 15 outside the house of Lszl tks, assistant pastor of the reformed Church in timioara, to oppose its evacuation, grows larger, with young romanians joining the Hungarian parishioners and turns into a real revolt directed at the regime. first arrests take place.

(16 deC 1989)

The brutal and intolerant methods of the system created par-adoxical typologies: the (temporarily) banned artist-activist and, conversely, the dissident actor or director structurally hostile to the system is admitted to the stage. This sort of perverse combination could certainly not be innocent.

Only a completely depraved organism, such as the defunct communist system, could spawn such paradoxical situa-tions. This is revealed as such, as soon as one tries to re-spond to the question of common sense: what was the role, the reason that they existed, and from whom were these enlightened censors protecting the performances which they allegedly and sometimes actually did protect. Is it that their sporadic pacts of nonaggression represented a blank check for future and, at that time, improbable radical changes? It would be an extra proof of their extraordinary capacity to adapt. Contractually devoteed to the party, former activists did not exclude, for themselves, an exist-ence outside the party. However, for a possible existence outside the party, they needed to create opportunities and, instinctively, they did so, even if sometimes this involved, on their side, walking on a tight rope.

On the other side of the barricade, no one imagined the fall of the regime, not even when it proved imminent. The behavior and choices of the artists need therefore be under-stood within this context. It was not only the individuals, but the regime itself that had its weaknesses. In hindsight, they appear obvious. unfortunately, we were not able to discover them on time.

In the last years, an interested complicity must be added on the part of the censors, who appeared to have pre-pared even at that time their future positions of today. This created, therefore,

On the other hand, the strategies for protection did not exclude false latch-ons, pseudo-conversions or tactical yielding. Thus, a complicated zone of overlapping was cre-ated, which no longer allowed people to be categorized into good and bad, even if a simple reminder of their situa-tions clearly indicates the responsibilities (which the direct censors always delegated to the upper level; note the fear of, acted or real, or the threat represented by them never present, omnipotent, yet invisible).

in tHe MeantiMe, for tHe Censor to rid HiM or HerseLf of aLL GuiLt, if not outriGHt assuMe tHe roLe of tHe viCtiM, Has BeCoMe a CLiCH.

The activist without scruples and the inflexible censor have remained immune. It is still only the artists who are dealing with angst, issues of the conscience, those who in

tHe enLiGHtened Censor and tHe CuLPaBLe artist Here is tHe BrutaL siGn of a norMaLity turned on its Head.

other times had trembled for their lives and their art. we didnt take an open and radical stand, confesses actress Coca Bloos with extreme moral honesty, I never took the straight path as a citizen, beyond the stage I didnt know. In essence, nothing has changed. Those who had doubts, dilemmas, a moral conscience, (more or less torn to pieces) still have it today. Those who didnt dont. a neW and unJust Paradox: it is easier

to Prove (WitH doCuMentation) HoW Censors resCued PLays a faCt WHiCH, Many tiMes, Cannot Be Contested tHan to sHoW tHe PLiGHt ConfrontinG an Honest artist WHo MereLy WisHed to PraCtiCe His Craft.

censorshIp!

Black Monday: demonstrations in timioara continued and the army fires into the crowd (provoking 93 deaths, though initial estimates were far higher). By dec. 20, when tens of thousands of industrial workers in timioara peacefully took up the protest, the city was effectively in insurrection. the army withdraws to barracks. the media keeps initially quiet about the events in timioara, while radio free europe keeps the whole country informed.

Ceauescu summons in Bucharest a large public manifestation to con-demn the hooligans and foreign interventions in timioara. during Ceauescus discourse, broadcast live on tv, the demonstration turns into a revolt. the crowd initially dis-perses then regains. in the night of 21/22 december barricades are built center town in Bucharest. shooting and tanks drive into the crowd, leaving many dead, wounded, and arrested. demonstrations against Ceauescu spring in other big cities, and are met by the army.

the crowd grows larger and larger, with workers from all over the city heading towards the city center. dictator Ceauescu and his wife flee Bucharest with a helicopter, and are later captured close to trgovite. the demonstrators take over the Party headquar-ters and the national television. the power is taken over by the newly established Provisional Council of the national salva-tion front, which announces the establishment of a democratic and multi-party system.

Confusion rules in Bucharest and other cities, as shots are still being fired by unidentified sources and people speak of terrorists. the final toll: 1,142 deceased and many more injured, the majority of which after december 22nd.

nicolae Ceauescu and wife elena are briefly judged by an exceptional Military Court, sentenced to death and executed. their trial and execu-tion is later broadcast on television.

(17 deC 1989) (21 deC 1989) (22 deC 1989) (2225 deC 1989) (25 deC 1989)

the timeline is compiled by oana radu, romanian Cultural institute in new york, based on an illustrated chronology of 80-90s by Carola Chiiu, in cel ce se pedepseste singur. stefan Berta-lan, florin Mitroi, ion Grigorescu. arta i romnia n anii 80-90, ed. erwin kessler, romanian Cultural institute & Centrul Cultural Palatele Brncoveneti, Mogooaia/Bucha-rest 2009. some data reference the final report of the Presidential Commission for the analysis of Communist dictatorship in roma-nia, Humanitas, Bucharest 2007.

THIS NEwSPAPER HAS BEEN PROduCEd BY The romanIan culTural InsTITuTe In new york FOR THE EXHIBITION revoluTIonary voIces: performIng arTs In cenTral & easTern europe In The 1980s PRESENTEd BY THE NEw YORK PuBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS.

ConCeived By oana radu and Corina uteueditor: oana radudesiGn: CarMen GoCiusPeCiaL tHanks to anCa HaieGan, Liviu MaLia, anCa Mniuiu, Marie-Louise PauLesC, CiPriana Petre and Miruna runCan. noveMBer 2009