An evening with Aladdin

I do enjoy shooting film on and off stage, at various artistic happenings, be these concerts, plays or such events. Most of the times I shoot without being the designated photographer, just a man in the crowd. I find these moments to be most relaxing, and I get to meet great people who do great things.

One such moment was yesterday evening, at the Teatru Fain in Bacau, Romania. An artistic establishment, of a rather local / regional stand, with great dreams and plans for the future. It is a private thing, with everything this status may entail: shortage of funds, and whatever minuses a private art enterprise brings nowadays everywhere. But as said, their dreams are grand, and their effort to bring together art and the young generations is to be applauded (pun intended). They do run a series of courses and classes for children and teenagers, where they can dip into the art, be this art theatre, singing, dancing, drawing, painting, and so forth. The owner and manager is a true wizard…he manages the entire enterprise, God knows how and with what efforts. But he does so, and he does it well, with a good account of his work, and when you get to see his work through these children on stage, you understand the reason why he runs through the hoops of recession and lack of, well, a lot of material help. Kudos !

So, yesterday evening. The play was Aladdin, of whom you all know everything already, the charming rascal, the beautiful Jasmine, Giafar the badie, the geenie and all the gang in the story. The artists are teenagers, gathered in a group called In The Spot (@inthespot.bacau) And in the spot they were, or should I say, on the spot, with their talent and artistic approach.

Good play, good story. The work to get here is not to be taken lightly, when you think these youngsters have to balance the school, on top of their time and efforts to build a play and put it on stage. I have it from the manager that they declined offers to be trained or helped on stage, when preparing the show. Wow. A generation that tries to do things their way, knowing they could be wrong or fail. But they do it nonetheless, and this is paramount in preparing them for life. This is what I would call responsibility.

All in all, a good evening spent in the company of teenagers, with their dreams and hopes for tomorrow. What can I say? Good luck, guys, and God’s speed in chasing the dream and making it come true. Thank you for a really enjoyable moment, see you next time.

Photographs were taken on film, of course, Agfa APX 400 @ 1600, with a Nikon F3, no flash as usual.

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