The scandal at the National Theatre reaches the Ministry of Culture: more than a thousand signatures calling for the reevaluation of Felix Alexa’s hiring, who is accused of harassment and abuse

More than a thousand people, including dozens of actors from the Bucharest National Theatre “I.L. Caragiale” (TNB), have signed a petition addressed to Culture Minister Ioana Ciocan, calling for ministry intervention following the hiring of director Felix Alexa, who has been accused by former students of harassment and abuse.

The signatories are calling for three things: an urgent resolution to the crisis, an inspection by the Control Corps of the Ministry of Culture, and the public communication of the measures taken.

The inspection would examine the hiring procedure, compliance with legal obligations against harassment, and the way the manager handled the situation, including through the October 30 statement by manager Ada Lupu Hausvater, who maintained that the hiring had been discussed and approved by the theatre’s councils on professional grounds, and that the decision had taken into account previous investigations, “which had not identified any violations.”

The petition also calls for the hiring to be reassessed. The first signatories are TNB actors, including Conrad Mericoffer, Ofelia Popii, Mihai Călin, and Istvan Teglas.

“We believe that the absence of a criminal conviction and the number of previously staged productions cannot be the sole criteria on which an institution with the prestige of the Bucharest National Theatre “I.L. Caragiale” decides whom to grant professional authority, access to public resources, as well as cultural and social validation. The absence of a criminal conviction does not guarantee the ethical appropriateness of hiring someone at a national institution that should be a benchmark of integrity,” the petition states.

The allegations and the director’s position

The investigation “The Abuse Department,” published by RISE Project in 2022, collected the testimonies of several women, including former students of Felix Alexa at the National University of Theatre and Film Art (UNATC). They spoke about harassment and abuse, while the director rejected the allegations. The investigation’s author, journalist Ioana Moldoveanu, says that 12 former students recounted experiences of harassment, sexual assault, threats, and professional blackmail. According to her, some testimonies are supported by witnesses, messages, e-mails, and photographs. Felix Alexa maintains that some information is false or taken out of context and says that he has no legal issues.

How the scandal began

The scandal began at the end of October, when the publication Cultura la dubă revealed that Alexa had been hired for the 2026–2027 season.

In a statement issued on October 30, TNB manager Ada Lupu Hausvater said that the hiring was not an “arbitrary, unilateral measure.” According to her, the decision was approved by the Artistic Council, while the Administrative Council voted unanimously in favor of it. The manager cited a decision by the UNATC Ethics Commission from 2022, which found no violations of the ethics code. She also cited the director’s behavioral integrity certificate. She further said that there had been no incidents during rehearsals.

Artists’ reactions

Actor Conrad Mericoffer announced his resignation from TNB. He says that Alexa’s hiring was “the icing on the cake” after other problems with the administration. Director Botond Nagy, who has two productions at TNB, publicly called for Ada Lupu Hausvater’s resignation. Director Bobi Pricop announced that he no longer wanted to collaborate with the theatre. Actress Ofelia Popii wrote that “no form of abuse can be justified through art.” She added that “silence can become the abuser’s shelter.”

Iulia Grigoriu, between testimony and litigation

Director Iulia Grigoriu, one of the petition’s signatories, was Alexa’s student. She wrote on Facebook that, after she declined an invitation to dinner, the professor allegedly told her that she would not be able to work in the profession as long as she depended on him. Felix Alexa announced in a letter that he had sued Iulia Grigoriu for defamation, seeking €100,000 in damages. He also sued actor Alex Călin and says that “others will follow.”

Actress Anka Levana’s story

Actress Anka Levana, a former partner of the director, spoke publicly about her relationship with Felix Alexa, especially about what happened after the breakup, because she felt that she “could not leave Iulia alone.” Levana says that she reported him to the police several times, more than fifteen years ago.

“I will refer strictly to the period after the breakup, a difficult separation that came after many failed attempts, a breakup he refused to accept. I already had every indication that it would not be easy, but I did not imagine that many months of constant harassment, threats, stalking, violence, psychological and emotional abuse would follow, during which the most harmless threat was ‘I’ll make sure you never set foot on a stage again!’ The first police complaint was filed on 29.09.2011, when he broke down the door of my house. With his fists and feet. Following the call to 112, a police team arrived. I was so bruised in the face, from fear, that they asked me three times whether the man had managed to beat me. It was a mixed team, a male police officer and a female police officer. The female officer told me, ‘I’m not leaving until you file a complaint.’ She was the first woman I felt was standing by me,” Levana writes in her testimony. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture asked the institutions under its authority to report what measures they had taken against harassment.

In a press release on Monday, the Ministry of Culture “expressed its concern and requested clarifications regarding the situation created following the testimonies that appeared in the public sphere and the reactions generated within the theatre community.” It also announced that it is currently checking, in all subordinate institutions, “how measures to prevent and combat gender-based harassment, as well as moral harassment in the workplace, are being implemented.”

Summary prepared with the help of Perplexity.