Elastic Fantastic

VizAbil Art is a practice-based research project about the identity and visibility of people with learning disabilities and mental health issues in Romania, conducted by Magda Pata, as part of the M.A. course in Inclusive Arts Practice at Brighton University, UK. This project was an artistic collaboration between the researcher and ten members of the Gasteni Theatre – which is formed of people who live and work in a neuropsychiatric recovery and rehabilitation centre (CRRN Racaciuni, Bacau, Romania). The project was funded by the Muzika Charitable Trust, www.muzika.org.uk

Some members from the Gasteni Theatre expressed their frustration at not being able to have any creative input in their group’s performances.

”We devised a method that allowed collaboration between disabled and non-disabled artists, which valued everybody’s ideas. Our collaboration was open-ended. We spent time singing, dancing, drawing, talking and playing. When we found common ground, we built on it. We put our ideas into practice. Other people were curious and joined us. We developed a collaborative performance for film, which we named Elastic Fantastic.”

Elastic Fantastic was filmed in two parts by filmmaker Claire Griffiths and edited by Magda Pata. The first part shows the performers playing a game from their childhood that involved jumping between and over elastic ropes to a set routine.

The second part of the film discards the rules and sees the performers creating a web of elastic ropes, tangled, tensed and ready to snap – a metaphor for the general attitude towards disability in Romania. The performers explore ways to release the tension or navigate through the web – all with curiosity, ingenuity and wit.

The performance inhabits an in-between space: between childhood and adulthood, play and performance, life and arts, disability and ability.

“We tangled all the elastics - The elastics tangled all of us.” – Alimavis (performer)

“I don’t recognise any of these people, even though I work with them every day!” - Vali Racila (Gasteni Theatre Artistic Director)

“Show the film where you want. Then maybe people will start seeing us.” - Gianina (performer)

The Gasteni Theatre/ Teatrul de la Gasteni

The Gasteni Theatre is formed of actors, performers and musicians who live and work in a neuropsychiatric recovery and rehabilitation centre in north-eastern Romania, named CRRN Racaciuni.

The theatre’s aims are to challenge Romania’s attitude towards disability, mental health issues and institutionalization. They also advocate disability rights throughout the country and support the work of disabled artists.

The main way that the theatre group gets their message across is by performing in other care institutions throughout the country, local venues, as well as national arts festivals and disability-related conferences.

The group’s motto is the song ‘I am the Same as You’ – which they perform when touring.

The Gasteni Theatre started in 2001, when the centre’s director, Dr. Ovidiu Necula - wanting to develop the centre’s residents artistic skills - asked Mary Turner, from Action Space Mobile (UK) to set up a small theatre group. Soon after, a performance was devised and toured Romania. For over ten years, the Gasteni Theatre has used combined arts to stimulate the performers’ creativity and self-esteem. They have developed a strong portfolio of work, working alongside artists and professionals from Action Space Mobile, the Muzika Charitable Trust (UK) and the Relief Fund for Romania (UK).

The group is coordinated by the artistic director, Vali Racila, along with four combined arts workers.

“At first we were shy and a bit too scared to perform. But the centre’s director said ‘Something good must come out of this.’

With the right encouragement, we were able to perform in front of the public. We realised we could be artists.” (Danut Ripa, performer)

“We like working with other artists because it is a challenge for us - we develop new interests. We like to show others that it’s easy to learn their craft.” (Ali Mavis, performer)

“My hope is to help develop [other] such groups with artists from care institutions throughout the region.” (Vali Racila - artistic director)