While many folders full of travel journeys are waiting for me to open them and attach the pictures to new blog articles but with the summer being around the corner, I realized that I neglected one of the best experiences of my life which happened in the summer of 2022 when I managed to attend Sibiu International Theatre Festival shortly known as FITS.
As mentioned in the banner of the post, FITS represents one of the most important theatre and performing arts festivals in the world, occupying the 3rd place after Festival d'Avignon from France and Edinburgh International Festiva from Scotland.
I was actually scrolling down my phone gallery when I found hundreds of pictures taken at FITS 2022 and remembered about my conversations with @bluemoon when I was telling him that he shouldn't miss this event when he visits Sibiu next time, so this is a pretty good reminder for him to make time to attend this year's festival which is the 30th edition of FITS.
FITS had its first edition in 1995 under the slogan of Tolerance which was the main theme of that edition, but with each passing year, the themes changed and brought more and more guests from no less than 73 countries per edition. This was the number of participant countries at the beginnings of the festival, so considering that the 30th edition is right around the corner and with each passing year the festival becomes more and more popular, I bet the number of guests and participant countries is around double.
Anyway, while this is going to be my 4th year since I moved to Sibiu, for some reason I only managed to attend FITS for the first time last year, so the upcoming 5-6 posts are going to be focused on that edition which is also a great opportunity to make this festival more famous on your end because there is still time to book your flight tickets for the FITS 2023 that will be held between 23rd June and 2nd July because the festival lasts for 10 days every year.
And before saying that you are not into theatre, keep in mind that FITS is not only about that, because there are both indoor and outdoor shows, counting no less than 800 different shows held yearly, from theatre to dances, from circus and contemporary circus to opera, from musicals to music shows, from concerts held in churches and historical sites to street performances, from book launches to heritage performances and special events, from exhibitions to open-air films, from visual art platform to specialized workshops... and the list can continue.
And honestly, just the activity of writing about the previous edition while there are already lots of soldout shows in less than 24hrs since FITS 2023 was announced, it gives me goosebumps looking forward to participating in the next edition. But enough with the introduction and let's get started! ❤️
1. My friends, the dragons
Our first interaction with the festival was with this show which even though it seems childish and more suitable for kids, there were a lot of people around the giant dolls which also focused on making the adults less grumpy and more happy.
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The show is originally from Spain, presenting a total of 3 giant dolls of 3.5 meters in height and 4.5 meters in length, resembling some sort of dinosaurs or mystic creatures coming from a dreamy world. Each doll was composed of 1,000 different fabrics and it was driven by an actor who interacted with the audience but also created special sound effects that made everything more realistic.
Show length: 30 min
Premiere date: 01.01.2017
Original name: Traps
2. A statue soul
Even though this is an international festival, the Romanian representations could not be missing, so I was really happy to see one of these being held even on the first day of FITS, bringing six actors on the same path that was crossed previously by the giant dolls.
While I've seen plenty of people not getting too much interest in starring at some human statues, I gotta say that these are some of the deepest shows that you can watch especially since not many will end up understanding the story - and that's where the difference between enthusiasts and simple spectators can be felt.
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The actors disguised as different historical characters presented each a personal story, but also some common ones that showed all kinds of emotions and phases from everyone's life. From funny to anger, from sadness to loneliness, and more, each statue brought a lot of thrills in each spectator's soul who managed to break the imaginary wall and understand what they presented without being needed to speak.
Show length: 60 min
Premiere date: 05.05.2015
Original name: Suflet de statuie
3. Shipwrecked on The Childhood Island
From childish shows to those with a bigger emotional impact, we ended up running into one more place that was exclusively dedicated to the kids and their families, but which still made us curious and want to stay there for a while to see how everything works.
This also made us cross Piata Mare known as the center of Sibiu where more arrangements were underway for the approaching evening which was going to hold a really big and important show held 15 meters above the ground, but which we missed due to being needed to reach home sooner than planned.
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Anyway, back to Shipwrecked on The Childhood Island which was also brought by the people from Spain, it represents the story of Robinson Crusoe presented in a different way than via a book, where even though the meaning of the ornaments and the whole tale is deeper than it first seems, it still brought lots of curious eyes, making the kids gain interest in solving the puzzles and quite a few games that were covering the surface.
Show length: 3 hours
Premiere date: 01.03.2012
Original name: Els amics d'en Crusó
4. A Totem to Frumiria
We also managed to find one of the very few things that you could enjoy during the entire 10-day period of the festival because even though most of the shows were replayed 3-4 times in more days of the festival, there were also some decoration elements that stayed in the same place for the whole period of FITS 2022, one of them being A Totem to Frumiria.
Knowing the meaning behind the totem, I'm happy to say that this is another representation made by Romanians who wanted to show the definition of beauty which comes in many forms and shapes depending on the one who is creating the vision. Thus, whether you are skinny or curvy, tall or short, the totem was going to show the beauty within you and that there are no boundaries for this word which many of us treat from a subjective point of view instead of accepting the perspective of others too.
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Every single ball was meant to show the one who was looking at it in a distorted reality, while the flash on the phone, was generating sci-fi tinted illusions. All balls showed different angles and images, not being able to see two looking the same, which is also what happens in real life where there is not more than one person seeing beauty the same.
Show length: 24/24
Premiere date: 23.06.2022
Original name: A Totem to Frumiria
5. Citadel Park of Sibiu
Keeping it on the same line of Beauty which was also the slogan of the 29th edition of FITS, we reached the Citadel Park of Sibiu which is one of the places where you won't find a lot of people in any day of the year because it's famous for being a place where you go to take a break from the crowd and rest before continuing the fun.
However, last summer it was different because the alley was covered by plenty of yellow bubbles presenting beauty in many forms that we don't appreciate as we should or we simply forget about, such as #findBeauty in the art of living, #findBeauty in gentleness, or #findBeauty in simple things, to name a few.
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Still in the same direction, you can find more constructions that are being updated daily with the schedule of the current day so you are not missing any of the shows because there are more locations that are entirely dedicated to the FITS outdoors shows while the cultural and historical monuments are kept for the indoors theatres and concerts.
Though, we used the official App of FITS which is more accurate and came more handy for us since after each show we had to walk fast to the next one so we don't miss too many of them.
6. Behind the curtain
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With the day coming slowly to an end, we managed to attend the first circus representation which was made possible by a talented team from France that reminded us that it's a big mistake to liken the word circus to animals because this one is a lot more than that and the biggest efforts are done still by people, not by the animals which are often tortured and sedated for the sake of making some spectators have fun.
While the guys from Les P'tits Bras shared a lot of laughter and good vibes among the audience which was slowly gathering together people of all ages, we discovered yet another definition for the word beauty but also for circus which even though I was never a fan of, I enjoyed the creation of new memories at this show.
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Even if the show had a comedy genre, the proper meaning behind everything you can see in the pictures was to present all the phases people get through behind the curtain, from having to quickly dress up with a different costume to all the fails and small mistakes that made people share a smile.
So along with the laughter in all its forms, we also managed to see some very risky and impressive acrobatics held a few meters away from the ground, which made us quickly jump from one emotion to another.
Show length: 60 min
Premiere date: 27.04.2019
Original name: Cabaret Bruits de Coulisses
7. Friends for a lifetime
And last but not least, the day came to an end by attending a show that quickly saved its spot in my heart considering how much I love animals and knowing that perhaps these are the single real friends that a human can ever have.
Even if the show was still part of a circus originally from Belgium, this presented a deeper emotion and feeling that you usually get while watching someone play with his pet. The game that made the main action of the show is known as diabolo and it presents a completely different way of having fun while playing in two, instead of one.
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From outstanding acrobatics made both by the man and his wolfdog known as Alba which is a funny name since in Romanian alba means white, the show proved one more time that people don't need a lot of things to be happy because as long as you have a true friend by your side and the essential things to make your living, you don't need anything else.
Show length: 35 min
Premiere date: 14.03.2021
Original name: Connexio
Since this post is already long enough and perhaps you already made an idea of how the beginning of this festival looked like last year, I'd like to stop here with the promise that this is just the first part out of 5-6 that will each present new shows we attended with each day from the total period of 10 days FITS lasts yearly bringing together people from all around the world. There will be around 7 shows presented in each part of FITS 2022 which are also way too few we've seen from the hundreds the festival came with, last year. So hopefully FITS 2023 will be an even more intense experience, with new stories to be shared when the time comes.
But considering that most of the shows are presented by people from more parts of the globe, perhaps you will recognize some of the teams because it's a big possibility the participants to come from your home country, so if any of these seem familiar, let me know in the comment section! In the end, we all share the same passion for arts which is a very vast and beautiful field. 💚
List of FITS 2022 posts:
- FITS 2022 - Part 1
- FITS 2022 - Part 2
- FITS 2022 - Part 3
- FITS 2022 - Part 4
- FITS 2022 - Part 5
- FITS 2022 - Part 6
SEE YOU AT THE NEXT PART OF FITS 2022! 🗾
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