From an early age, Matei Vi艧niec discovered literature as a space dedicated to freedom. He draws his strengths from Kafka, Dostoevsky, Poe, Lautr茅amont. He loves the Surrealists, the Dadaists, absurd and grotesque theatre, surrealist poetry, fantastic literature, magical realism, even the realist Anglo-Saxon theatre. He loves everything except Socialist Realism.
Vi艧niec studied philosophy at Bucharest University and became an active member of the so-called Eighties Generation, who left a clear stamp on the Romanian literature. He believes in cultural resistance, and in literature鈥檚 capacity to demolish totalitarianism. Above all, Matei Vi艧niec believes that theatre and poetry can denounce manipulation through "great ideas", as well as brainwashing through ideology.
Before 1987 Matei Vi艧niec had made a name for himself in Romania by his clear, lucid, bitter poetry. Starting with 1977, he wrote drama; the plays were much circulated in the literary milieus but were barred from staging. In September 1987, Vi艧niec left Romania for France, where he was granted political asylum. He started writing in French and began working for Radio France Internationale. At the present time, Vi艧niec has had many of his works staged in France, and some twenty of his plays written in French are published (Actes Sud-Papier, L'Harmattan, Lansman). His plays have been staged in more than 20 countries. In Romania, after the fall of Communism, Matei Vi艧niec has become one of the most frequently performed authors.
The work of Matei Vi艧niec has been represented in London by the performance "The Body of a Woman as a Battlefield in the Bosnian War", staged at the Young Vic Theatre, in November 2000. The play received rave reviews in the British newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian. "The Story of the Panda Bears told by a Saxophonist who has a Girlfriend in Frankfurt" has been performed at the Edinburgh Festival (August 2005). The production is by Rouge28 Theatre, London. In Unites States, the work of Matei Vi艧niec has been represented in New York, Chicago, New Jersey and Hollywood.
L'Histoire des ours Panda Racontee par un Saxophoniste Qui a Une Petite Amie a Francfort = The Story of the Panda Bears Told by a Saxophonist Who Has a Girlfriend in Frankfurt, Matei Vi艧niec
The love story of a woman and a man living at the extremes is told. This story is a poetic and fantasy text that should definitely be read with the senses.
The author has shown that with one Letters, one can communicate with others, one can feel pain, one can express feelings, maybe human beings started the same way, it was newer than new to me. I just learned the word "A".