RAFINA

Info

Stagiunea de Teatru Politic 2021-2022 started in September at the Replica Educational Theater Center in Bucharest and continues with the premiere of the show RAFINA, directed by Irina Gâdiuță. The first two performances will take place on October 18 and 25, from 19:30, at the National Center for Dance Bucharest. Admission is free only upon reservation, by clicking here.

The show RAFINA investigates, in poetic territory, the principle of neuronormativity, the base of the belief according to which neurodivergence/neurodiversity is a deviation from the norm, an anomaly, and on which relies a whole set of socio-cultural practices that marginalize, diagnose, institutionalize non-compliant minds.

RAFINA depicts, in seven acts, socio-affective landscapes where the feeling of shame, distrust and suspicion is insidiously manifested, where stigma, oppression, isolation are consolidated, and where personal history intersects with recent history. And it hurts.

Stagiunea de Teatru Politic 2021-2022 is part of the Perifeeria project, funded by the EEA Grants 2014 – 2021 under the RO-CULTURA Program, which aims to facilitate access to culture and develop the capacity for (self)representation through theater for groups and categories marginalized socially, economically and culturally. RAFINA is made in partnership with the County Museum of History and Art – Zalău and high schools in Zalău. The theme of research and documentation is the inclusion in small towns in Romania of non-typical people with special educational needs and autism spectrum disorders.

Neurodiversity, as defined by autistic queer author Nick Walker, is “understanding neurological variation as a natural form of human diversity, subject to the same societal dynamics as other forms of diversity”, such as gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. For example, the conceptualization and framing of autism in such a framework facilitates the adoption of the neurodiversity paradigm (vs. the pathology paradigm) within which variation in the configuration and functioning of the human brain and mind is considered “a natural, healthy and valuable form of human diversity.”

With a portfolio of over twenty theater productions that addresses and explores socio-political dimensions for over 10 years, the Political Theater Season invites you to the Political Theater Platform 2021-2022, for 8 shows (34 performances) from its existing portfolio (Capete înfierbântate 2020, Matern, Lucrător universal, TABU, SubPământ, ‘90, The Protocols și Originea lumii) and, in addition to RAFINA, two other new political theatre pieces – coordinated by directors Bogdan Georgescu and David Schwartz and produced in partnership with local organizations from Turnu-Măgurele and Bârlad in 2022.

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Project funded by the EEA Grants 2014 – 2021 / / EEA and Norway Grants under the RO-Cultura Program.

Special mentions:

Access to the event is based on the latest regulations on safety measures against SARS-CoV-2. Participants must present their EU COVID-19 Digital Certificate (Green Pass), which must contain: either proof of vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus for which 10 days have passed since the completion of the vaccination scheme with an authorized vaccine in Romania; or proof that it is in the period between the 15th and 180th day after confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.