The theme of this year’s edition of the Ideo Ideis Youth Theater Festival is “You have everything you need”, also a message of encouragement for young people who feel the pressure of society to be the best in what they do, to succeed in everything. Actress Ana Cretu says she struggled for a while to understand what it means to be enough and have everything she needs to do her job.
Ana comes to Ideo this year for the first time as a young theater trainer, after being twice as a participant and having meetings that she says gave her wings to follow her natural path in the theater. In the workshop he will hold in Alexandria, he aims to guide teenagers on their journey of knowledge.
“I don’t propose to do actual acting, but rather to create a space where, through play, we reach parts of ourselves to explore with gentleness and curiosity – parts of light, parts of shadow (not accepted ) and all the weirdness in the world,” says Ana.
In what follows, we tell with Ana Cretu about the energy of young theater, about his first meeting with Ideo Ideis and how acting can support a teenager in his development.
From the biography and the path traveled so far in acting
Oh, this question boggles and scares me, I admit. My path… I would say it was a natural one. I have traveled a road with more or less happy events. Beyond that, the most important were the meetings we had. I could take it from the beginning to say that meeting my mother was a catalyst because with her I developed a love for theater. Then the meeting with Andrei Gheorghe, the coordinator of the As band, of which I was a part for a while, in which the bud of passion developed and one of the idealistic periods of youth. I love that period because that’s where I get my energy and support when I have nowhere else to go, from that Ana from adolescence. Then the path continued naturally to UNATC, I graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Acting. For me, college was a safe environment in which I could develop. It would be unfair of me to name only a few teachers who stood by me. There were more.
The second school was the meeting with Victor Ioan Frunză and all the performances that followed from there. My co-stars were great mentors during that time. Then I was welcomed with open arms in the collective in Ploiesti where I had several important meetings. And then all the broken dates that didn’t get to consummate. They all mattered. Now I’m in a process where I’ve set out to develop other parts of myself, not that my development as an actress has reached a point of perfection necessarily, but rather out of my desire to get out of the slightly uncertain zone that you -acting creates it sometimes. I wanted to know how to do other things and I chose to flirt with writing, with theater workshops (I created Dare to drama, theater and development workshops) and with psychology (I’m in the first year of Psychology). I feel more whole now without ever giving up acting.
Destiny, talent, commitment, luck. What does it take to succeed as an actor?
The theme of this edition of Ideo Ideis, “You have everything you need”, made me happy and I don’t know, it seems to calm you down only when you hear it. I struggled for a while to understand what it means to be enough, to have everything you need. I have flashes of times when I feel this way. In my journey, it was clearly a combination of everything: destiny, talent, involvement, luck. If there’s been a wide debate about talent so far, I think I’d rather launch a discussion about luck. I think we put a lot of failures in the shelter of bad luck and leave them there comfortably to him. I see luck as the bump in front of the finish line after you’ve come all the way that involves work, talent and commitment. So yeah, I’d say I was lucky too. But luck is also when a road is closed to you that was no longer for you.
What does Ideo Ideis mean to you?
A lot has been said about Ideo and I think it still deserves to be said. I drew a lot of strength from the nostalgia, excitement and effervescence of my teenage Ideo days. There, some searches and desires took shape and seemed to settle inside me. I clearly said to myself for the first time that I want to be with these people, this is what I want to do, theater.
First encounter with the festival
I went to Ideo twice as a participant. The first time I was in the 10th grade. I was a teenage girl with acne who had a lot of confidence issues, self-esteem, but also a lot of emotions bubbling up inside. I know that I worked with Tudor Lucanu then and we did an exercise with a mask that we had to build ourselves from whatever materials we wanted. I don’t remember exactly how the exercise went, I just know that everyone came forward with their mask. I left myself vulnerable. I loved that my weirdness, all my emotions and my whole being was accepted from that moment on. It was cathartic. I realized I could do this my whole life and people would call it a job.
Your mission this year in this festival
My mission (although the word mission comes with a heavy burden) is to guide teenagers on their way to knowledge, to play, to laugh, to express ourselves in various ways and all come with acceptance. I don’t aim to do actual acting, but rather to create a space where, through play, we reach parts of ourselves to explore with gentleness and curiosity – parts of light, parts of shadow (not accepted) and all the weirdness in the world. I would like the young people at Ideo Ideis to take all the parts of themselves in the bag of HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED, not just the ones they consider beautiful or worthy of display. All we are is all we need when we hit the road. I’ve rambled a bit, haha, I’ll stop here. The rest, surprise for them.
How are the participants of Ideo Ideis. What are you looking for?
I think they are young people who have a common passion and that makes them feel part of a community. This is where friendships between cities, friends with trainers or mentors are born. I would say they are looking for expression, acceptance, looking to admire and yearn for something. I repeat, I think. I would be curious about their answer to this question. Maybe I’ll find out more after the workshop.
What does a young man need to be a good actor
Given that few of those who come to Ideo Ideis continue on this path, I will not focus on exploring the acting qualities, but rather the qualities of the human baggage with which they go on their journey in life. And so, everyone wins. And anyway, most of the time, they intertwine.
The energy of the young theater
I think the young theater has more courage, maybe. Young people are more open to tackling and diving into topics that we were just scratching the surface of.
The evolution of the festival over time
I’m not sure I could answer this question properly because this year is the first year I’m returning to the festival after the participant experience. Okay, we missed a few times incognito with a friend when I was already in college, but we felt a bit like imposters because we didn’t know who we were anymore in the context of the festival. I am very happy that I was given this opportunity to come back.
The help of the theater in the coagulation of youth communities
Alexandria is the living example that you can revitalize a culturally half-dead city through the initiative of young people who want to change something from the environment they came from. I see every year how for a week (and not only) Alexandria is red and white, effervescent and full of cultural events and full of youth, with all that entails. Theater can open horizons and provide meaning where it is most needed.
Supporting acting in an adolescent’s development
Acting is special because it is that art which is both the instrument and the art it creates at the same time. The instrument of the actor is himself and through him he creates himself. That’s why the actor works with his whole being. To work through theatrical exercises with your mind, soul, emotions, to develop your memory, cooperation, agility, emotional intelligence. There are many aspects that prepare you for life in theater exercises.
A remarkable moment experienced by you at Ideo Ideis
I can’t put my finger on just one moment, I’d feel like I’d be betraying the others. The workshop with Alex Pavel was, at the time, very revealing for me. I know that at the end of the workshop we wrote thank you notes to each other and it was very emotional. Another moment would be that after I received the feedback from the jury (it was with a jury and with prizes in my time, haha), the one I adored at the time, Marius Manole, didn’t say a word to me. And although everyone else gave us positive feedback, I was crying after the meeting with them because Manole didn’t tell me anything. (of the waves of youth 🙂 ) And at the final party, I was talking to my mother on the phone, Manole comes to me and tells me when I have time to come and talk for a bit. I found out after Alex had talked him into having a discussion with me. I freeze and tell my mother to stay on the phone with me for a while so it doesn’t seem like I’m leaving right away. Then I sat for 10-15 minutes at a table talking about theater with the actor I admired the most, and that gave me wings.
How do you see this festival going?
I predict a long life for Ideo (he already has anyway, he’s an adult with all the documents in order). I wish and hope that together with my fellow trainers we will form a coherent, competent, empathetic group that will support a generation that I believe is in great need of guidance and safe spaces in which to express their creativity.
Source: www.iqads.ro
