The Roma Theatre in Romania: Between Expression and Institutionalization

This article examines the relationship between Romanian state cultural policies and the emergence of a Roma theatrical movement over the past two decades. Although the recommendation to establish a State Roma Theatre appears recurrently in governmental strategies, institutionalization remains blocked, revealing the limits of the official discourse of inclusion. The study contextualizes this absence within the historical continuity of Roma marginalization, from slavery and eugenic racism to distorted representation in dominant culture. Drawing on conceptual frameworks proposed by Stuart Hall, theatre becomes a space of symbolic resistance, where memory, social justice, and the reconfiguration of collective identity are articulated through artistic expression. The analysis maps the main contemporary Roma theatrical initiatives, highlighting how they function as autonomous forms of knowledge production and challenges to cultural hegemony. In the absence of an institutional infrastructure, Roma theatre acquires political and epistemic value, proposing an alternative model of representation within the Romanian cultural sphere.