Cahul's new theater: A dream nearing completion
Performances at the "Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu" Republican Musical-Dramatic Theater in Cahul are set to move into a new building with spacious, well-equipped halls.
The renovation work, repeatedly delayed in recent years, is 70% complete. The performance hall and foyer are the last areas that need to be fitted out. For now, shows are staged in the institution's old premises, in a small hall with a capacity of almost one hundred people.
The new hall will accommodate 240 people for performances.
"The foyer – with its stairs, tiles, and railings – is still awaiting completion according to the project plans. The ticket office is ready, and the stage is complete. We even took down the stage coverings to prevent dust accumulation," said Gheorghe Mândru, director of the "Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu" Republican Musical-Dramatic Theater in Cahul.
The upper floors are already fully prepared, and actors will enjoy all the modern comforts.
"From the outset, the focus has been on efficiency, not grand luxury or fancy touches. It needs to be clean, efficient, and comfortable," states Gheorghe Mândru.
"We don't have proper dressing rooms, nor space to store costumes or props. Even the hall is too small for spectators. Children often have to attend performances multiple times because the hall is so small," says actress Aurica Țurcanu.
"The opening of the new theater is a dream come true for us, one I believe will eventually materialize, providing us with much better conditions than what we have now," specified actor Ion Furnică.
"On a high, beautiful, wide, spacious stage, where actors' movements feel effortless and expansive, everything simply flows more beautifully. We've even found ourselves, accustomed to our tiny stage, performing on larger ones where the script alone wasn't enough – we needed even more dialogue to fill the space," mentioned actress Rodica Ciobanu.
This project has faced significant delays, and recent discussions have focused on relaunching the tender for work to resume.
"The plan is for these works, at least, to start full-force this autumn, depending on the duration of the tender process, as the first phase of this building's construction is funded by the Government of Romania," declared the mayor of Cahul, Nicolae Dandiș.
In 2018, the Ministry of Education signed a contract worth almost 1.7 million lei with a contractor for the theater's construction. Four years later, work came to a halt due to the contractor's death. To complete the theater, an evaluation of the already completed and paid-for works was necessary, along with an assessment of the remaining work required. The building where the theater's actors currently perform dates back to 1987.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
