George Banu (1943-2023) was a critic and theatre expert born in Romania and settled in Paris in 1973. He studied at the Academy of Drama and Film, Bucharest, in the same generation as director Andrei Şerban. He was professor at I.E.T. (Institut d’Études Théâtrales) at the University of Paris III, Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris and at the Theatre Studies Faculty of the University of Louvain la Neuve in Belgium. In 1981, George Banu published the well-known volume Costumul de teatru and the book Brecht ou le petit contre le grand, for which he received the Critics Award for the Best Theatre Book of the year. In 1990, together with Michelle Kokosowski, he founded the Experimental Theatre Academy in Paris, which he ran until 2001, when it was dissolved. He was General Secretary (1985-1992), President (1994-2000), then Honorary President of the International Association of Theatre Critics, UNITER Member, Doctor Honoris Causa of the Bucharest “I.L. Caragiale” National University of Theatre and Film, and Doctor Honoris Causa of several European universities. Amongst the awards he was distinguished with, we mention three times winner of the Award for Best Theatre Book in France, Honorary Award of IATC – Romanian section at the UNITER Gala 2012, Special Prize of the 2012 Shakespeare Festival, offered by Rotary Probitas Craiova and Rotary Craiova. He has been an honorary member of the Romanian Academy since 2013. He was co-director of the magazine Alternatives Théâtrales in Brussels, and director of the collection Le temps du Théâtre, published by Actes Sud in France. His books have been published in France and translated in numerous languages. He wrote a trilogy about the relationship between theatre and painting: Le Rideau, L’Homme de dos and Nocturnes.
Published works: L’espace Théâtral, Le Costume De Théâtre, Brecht ou le petit contre le Grand, Le Théâtre, Sorties de secours, L’acteur qui ne revient pas, Mémoires du théâtre, Le rouge et or, Peter Brook: de Timon d’Athènes à La Tempête, L’instant Habité, Sarah Bernhardt ou les sculptures de l’éphémère, Le Rideau Ou La Fêlure Du Monde, Notre Théâtre, la Cerisaie, L’homme De Dos, Exercices d’accompagnement, D’Antoine Vitez a Sarah Bernhardt, L’oubli, Nocturnes, La Scène Surveillée, Le Repos, Les Solitaires Intempestifs, Miniatures Théoriques, Shakespeare, le monde est une scène, Shakespeare, Métaphore et pratique du théâtre, Les voyages du comédien.
Constantin Chiriac:
''President and Honorary President of the International Association of Theatre Critics, Artistic Director of the Experimental Theatre Academy in Paris, President of the Europe Prize for Theatre, Secretary General of the European Theatre Union, academician and university professor at the Sorbonne, George Banu receives a star on the Sibiu Walk of Fame for his outstanding contribution to the development of European theatre in the past 40 years, research in theatre, festivals and cultural events, of academia in Europe and worldwide.''
Star offered with the support of: Farmexim
