On Leaving Romania

It was 3:00 AM Eastern European time. I was leaving Bucharest. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and met the driver. We loaded the luggage into a small car and it was off to the airport traversing the dark streets of Romania's capital city. I always experience melancholy when leaving foreign lands. It is almost like leaving a tiny piece of yourself, always hoping for the next trip; to return and renew your experiences. Romania for me was a life changing experience in so many ways that it becomes impossible to even try to explain. I miss all of my new friends and thank our Romanian hosts. May God bless you all and keep you safe in our ever changing world.......by line......Mark F. Tattenbaum......Bucharest, Romania.

Leaving Sinaia and Returning to Bucharest

Our work in Sinaia had reached its conclusion and it was time to say goodbye to all of our new friends and of course the theatre dogs that we had come to know and love. Our final night in Sinaia we had a party on the terrace and said our farewells. I still miss all of my new friends. We learned about theatre and this thing known as life. We had a fairly short bus ride back to the hotel in Bucharest and we met with a theatre company and then toured the city for a bit. The ITI-UNESCO Chair joined us for dinner. It was soon time to sleep and in the morning I was off again to Amsterdam and then on to the States.

U.B. Sakuntala with Friends from Iran

Here is our interpretation of Sakuntala in which we were joined by our friends from Iran.

Break Time !

With all this hard work we all needed a break to clear our heads. It was time for a walk in the park and then into downtown for Expresso or some pizza. Too soon over and time to work again.

Sakuntala interpreted by Iran

Here is the professor from Iran and his students working on Sakuntala.

Professor Rajendran

As I said in a previous post I was honored to have the opportunity to study with the Professor. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Professor Rajendran is a well respected member of the National Academy in India and is a Professor at the National School of Drama in New Delhi, India and is also the editor of Theatre India, the National School of Drama's Theatre Journal. I thank the good professor for allowing me to use these photographs of his production.
MALAVIKAGNIMITRAM at the National School of Drama in 2005. This production was directed by Professor Rajendran.

I thank Professor Corneliu Dumitriu, ITI-UNESCO Chair for making this possible and for providing a learning forum for all of us to come together as a group.

The Master Class in Ancient Indian Drama

Time began to seemingly have no meaning. We were immersed in theatre and the political events of the world receded from our thoughts and minds. Professor K.S. Rajendran from the National Academy in New Delhi, India was to instruct us on the topic of Ancient Indian Drama. He was joined by Professor Shashidhar Acharya who instructed the students in the various aspects of Classical Indian Dance. I was honored to be asked to provide a short lecture for the students of the various nations under the guidance of Professor Rajendran. Some of the subjects of contained in my lecture were the foundations of Ancient Indian Drama and Sakuntala by Kalidasa. While the students continued to work on the movements with Professor Acharya, I conducted many days of intense research on Indian Theatre and dramaturgical research on Kalidasa and his Sakuntala. These photographs show the class work on dance technique provided by Professor Shashidhar Acharya and acting techniques provided by Professor Rajendran. Other photographs show work by various nations and a collective work by all students on Sakuntala.

Romanian World War I Cemetery

As an artist much of my work concerns the horrors of war. I had learned of this cemetery and took the time to locate it. Here in America we tend to think of the wars as being fought "over there". It is an eerie feeling to stand in a cemetery where men fought and died. Standing in that cemetery I realized that there is no "over there" and that I was standing where men like myself fought for their survival. When asking Mihaela about the battles she said "Yes, here in this lovely valley and these breath taking mountains people have fought and died, one generation after another". Standing in the cemetery all sound seems to cease, even the songs of the birds. Several of the crosses have photographic images of the dead etched upon them. Another monument has poetry in Romanian inscribed upon it about the United States Airmen that died in the skies of this lovely valley and mountains.

The Path from Hotel Furnica

There is a cobblestone roadway that leads from Hotel Furnica to the Monastery. Vendors of all different crafts line the roadway that leads to the monastery. Many of the items that I purchased in Romania were made by the local folk and were eager to pose for my camera. I even purchased a song from the guitar player.