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Prince Charles of Wales was delighted with the performance offered by drama students in Sibiu and decided to stay in the city with the actors and organisers of the International Drama Festival, of which he is a patron, not just 20 minutes, as he had initially planned, but almost two hours to acknowledge the work of the festival and the involvement of this event in changing the city, said actor Constantin Chiriac, the director of the festival who guided Charles through the old parts of the city on Monday, after the visit.
"The visit of His Highness, Prince Charles, in Sibiu means first and foremost an extraordinary recognition of the work that the festival has been doing for 25 years, its involvement in changing this community, its international dimension. Also, the care for what the educational field means, the field of volunteering, contact with universities in the UK and especially the celebration of what the British Council means - 80 years of existence ... Today we have managed to offer him the 25th anniversary thanks to his patronage and the patronage of the President of Romania. He had initially planned on a 20-minute visit, but our students put on a special show for him; he was delighted and instead of 20 minutes he stayed in Sibiu, at least with us - I do not know how long he was without us - an hour and 45 minutes ... (...) He was delighted to see that on the Celebrity Alley there are two great UK artists (...) He will support us in all that means next steps and I am sure he will have enough reasons to return during the festival in a future edition for other projects we develop," said Chiriac.
The Prince of Wales took part in the rehearsal of "We Art Free" show by Marian Ralea featuring student actors, mounted in the courtyard of the History Museum, a building from the 1400s that was for four centuries the headquarters of the Sibiu City Hall. This stage show will premiere in October at the CAVAS Studio in Sibiu.
"The show is largely non-verbal, being built on body language, about the universal theme of love. The only spoken texts were Shakespeare's sonnets, and part of the show presented will be staged at the International Drama Festival in Sibiu, on June 11 and 14, at 17:00hrs, in Cetatii Park," said Cristina Ghinea, spokesperson for the Radu Stanca National Theatre of Sibiu.
This year, Charles is the patron of the 25th edition of the International Drama Festival in Sibiu, but will not attend the event that begins on Friday.
Organisers quote Charles as saying he will not be able to attend the wonderful meeting of talent, but he wants to congratulate Sibiu and the International Drama Festival there on its 25th anniversary.
During his visit to the History Museum, which is part of the Brukenthal National Museum, Charles received small gifts from the museum's director and the drama festival director.
Director of the Brukenthal National Museum Sabin Luca told AGERPRES that he offered Prince Charles two books, one about Sophia, the wife of Baron Brukenthal, and another about the latest decade in the history of the oldest museum in Romania, as well as an insignia with the figure of the late baron Brukenthal, a one-time governor of Transylvania.
After 20 minutes at the rehearsal of the show at the Altemberger House, the current headquarters of the History Museum and a former headquarters of the Sibiu City Hall, Prince Charles, accompanied by Chiriac, strolled down the historic centre of Sibiu.
Prince Charles is likely to return to Sibiu in 2019, when the city will be the first in Romania to be called a European Gastronomic Region, as an invitation has already been sent out by President of the Sibiu County Council Daniela Cimpean.
