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Giuvlipen

Giuvlipen Theater Company

Compania de teatru Giuvlipen






Year of foundation
of the theater
2015
Place:Bucharest, Romania
Leader of the theater: Mihaela Drăgan
Main artists:Mihaela Drăgan - actress, playwright

Ema Zita Moldovan - actress, costume designer

Oana Rusu
- actress

Bety Pisică
- actress, interdisciplinary artist

Nicoleta Ghiță - actress, singer

Andrei Șerban - actor

Ninel Petrache - actor

Claudiu Dumitru - actor

Raisa Mihai - actress

Alexandru Fifea
- actor

Raj Alexandru Udera
- actor, make-up artist

Alex Bălă - music producer

Bianca Mihai - actress, musician
“Giuvlipen is more than a theater company; it is our safe space of Roma actresses, in which we claim the right to use our voice to fight against Eurocentric principles in art and to produce a revolutionary, feminist, queer and anti-racist art.”

- Mihaela Drăgan (Roma actress and co-founder of Giuvlipen)

“They are the vanguard of the Romani revolution, a counter-attack, through art and activism - to centuries of oppression.”

- Reuters Agency


ABout the theater


Giuvlipen means feminism in Romani language and is the first independent Roma feminist theatre company in Romania. 
It was founded in 2015 by a group of Roma actors, artists and cultural experts with the purpose of creating a structure for reflection and action in the art field, as a form of combating Roma exclusion. 

Our art is provocative, experimental and of high performativity. The subjects of our shows are diverse, but also share a common theme: 

We openly discuss subjects that have been passed over in silence, sometimes because of history, sometimes because of mentality and social or political mores. With each show we aim to reclaim the Roma art, history and cultural identity, through stories told by us, Roma artists. 
Some of the main goals of our theater company are taking responsibility for showing the value of Roma culture, contributing to changing social mentality and instilling a sense of pride for cultural and identity heritage among Roma communities.


AWARDS

2020
UNITER Awards Gala 2020 - Special British Council Romania Award for promoting and supporting social inclusion and encouraging civic engagement


2018
AFCN Awards Gala 2018 – Social inclusion and intercultural dialogue award for the cultural project “Roma Theater is Not Nomadic: The Memory of Transnistria


2019
The distinction of high appreciation for their artistic performance and the promotion of Roma culture by the Prime Minister of Romania of that time, Viorica Dăncilă for Zita Moldovan and Mihaela Drăgan, the co-founders of Giuvlipen.


Main productions

2023
Mihaela Drăgan: Viral on TikTok (Virală pe TikTok)
D.: Mihaela Drăgan

In the performance we witness a deeply moving overview of the lack of sexual education affecting Romanian society, particularly the Roma communities, and its tangible societal consequences. TikTok, as the currently most popular social media platform, provides an excellent framework for the play.

Giuvlipen, Romanian Playwright's Theater
(Giuvlipen, Teatrul Dramaturgilor Români)
Bucharest, Romania


2022
Mihaela Drăgan: Trauma Kink (Trauma Kink)
D.: Gabriel Sandu

The show is about how early life and adult traumas define our perception of intimacy and pleasure. It opens the conversation about trauma in a natural way, through the stories of five artists who open up to the public in a performative approach that combines confessional elements with fiction and the hedonistic imaginary.

Giuvlipen, Romanian Playwright's Theater
(Giuvlipen, Teatrul Dramaturgilor Români)
Bucharest, Romania


2019
Mihaela Drăgan: Romacen – The Age of the Witch
(Romacen – Vremea Vrăjitoarelor)
D.: Tina Turnheim

Romacen - The Age of the Witch marks the birth of a new artistic trend, Roma Futurism, which we hope will be taken over by many Roma artists to move to the next level, where we imagine a future in which we can stop the historical cycle of oppression against us. Roma Futurism claims the figure of the Roma witch, so stereotyped in the collective imaginary, and witchcraft becomes our artistic and political response to the social inequalities and injustices of the world we live in.

Andrei Mureșanu Theater (Teatrul Andrei Mureșanu)
Sfântu-Gheorghe, Romania

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Guest performances

Mihaela Drăgan: Romacen – The Age of the Witch
(Romacen – Vremea Vrăjitoarelor)
2020
-> Andrei Mureșanu Theater (Teatrul Andrei Mureșanu)
Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania

-> Csiky Gergely Hungarian Theater (Csiky Gergely Színház)
Timișoara, Romania

-> Theater Aufbau Kreuzberg (TAK)
Berlin, Germany

-> Roma Theater is Not Nomad 2020 tour

2019
-> Andrei Mureșanu Theater (Teatrul Andrei Mureșanu)
Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania


Read More

photo credits

All rights reserved

1: ©Alina Vincze_Viral on Tiktok performance

2: ©Volker Vornehm_Romacen performance

3: ©Anastasia Atanasoska_Trauma Kink performance

4: ©Adi Bulboacă_Sexodrom performance

5: ©Claudiu Ciprian Popa_Urban Body performance

6: ©Andreea Câmpeanu_Who Killed Szomna Grancsa? performance

7: ©Adi Bulboacă_Gadjo Dildo performance