Miracles are not miracles, but the sensational and spectacular results of hard work. All we can do is notice and support those who produce them

Some look for miracles in churches, others find them in art, in emotion, in events that make us startle. Alex Tocilescu believes we can #PartedinMiracol if we are willing to keep our mouths shut. Meeting with International Theater Festival from Sibiu (FITS) is generous in such wonders and discoveries. So the theme of this year’s edition of the festival, Miracle, best tells the history of FITS in one word.

“The whole of Sibiu seemed to be gripped by the fever of the festival that seemed to be present everywhere, I have never seen anything like this except at football matches, when tens of thousands of people leave the stadium and an entire city is filled with the colors of their team. I didn’t think that culture could be so visible too”, says Alex Tocilescu about the 2022 edition.

#FITS30 takes place between June 23 and July 2 in Sibiu and includes over 800 events and 5,000 guests from 75 countries. In anticipation of it, we talk to FITS friends about what miracles still mean in 2023 and how we can make more room for the possibility of them happening. Alex Tocilescu talks below about dance, tears of holy statues, football and his delights at FITS:

First thought when you hear miracle

A statue or icon of the Mother of God weeping with real tears. Probably because a clever priest hid a vial of salt water in that object of worship.

What does miracle mean to you?

Something that happens despite the laws of physics, nature, etc. Or at least that’s the correct definition of the word – except that it’s also used with another meaning, namely “something that happens despite the odds”. Can a team with a tiny budget win the Champions League? Miracle! Roger Federer hits a lob that flies 40 meters up and then lands flat on the line? Miracle! Of course, for such happenings there are explanations (a lot of work, a lot of training, a lot of effort), but sometimes we are too lazy to look for them – so we say “Miracle!”.

Is there still room for miracles in 2023?

From a religious point of view, no. It’s still 2023 🙂 Otherwise, yes, sure; unexpected, improbable things will always happen, small logs that will overturn the big chariot.

First memories related to FITS

The whole of Sibiu seemed to be gripped by the fever of the festival that seemed to be present everywhere, I have never seen anything like this except at football matches, when tens of thousands of people leave the stadium and an entire city is filled with the colors of their team. I didn’t think culture could be so visible either. Oh, and in addition I passed within 30 centimeters of Laetitia Casta!

Project Sylphes, Philharmonic. FITS 2022, Sibiu. Photo credit: Sebastian Marcovici

Discoveries & delights

Last year’s big surprise and delight was a dance performance. Honestly, I didn’t know much about contemporary dance, so when a friend I met by chance in town told me I had to see the Belgians from the Mossoux-Bonté company, I said yes just so I wouldn’t sound uneducated, after that I went to the show without any desire. It’s just that what I saw there was so, yes, miraculous, so completely unexpected and improbable and, if not against the laws of physics, at least against the laws of my nature, that after it was over I came away a complete convert to contemporary dance.

Eternal return, Mossoux-Bonté. Fits 2022, Sibiu. Photo: @Sebastian Marcovici

The FITS imprint

FITS is for theater what FILIT is for literature, Enescu for classical music, Gărâna for jazz or TIFF for film. And it is surprising, astonishing and even miraculous that only one of these festivals takes place in Bucharest, which thinks it is the navel of the earth in terms of culture, but here it is not.

Advice for first-timers at FITS

To go to shows they know nothing about and from which they have no expectations. Because you usually come out smarter from those.

A burning love. Fits 2022, Sibiu. Photo: @Dragoș Dumitru

How we make room for the possibility of miracles

As I said before, I believe that miracles are not miracles, but the sensational and spectacular results of hard work. All we can do is notice and support those who produce them. Because many of them perform miracles without anyone noticing, and maybe after a while they lose their temper and give up on miracles – and then we too will suffer.

How we can be #PartinMiracle

May we always be willing to remain silent.