Three evenings of spoken word, music and performance. October 17–19 in Control Club, Bucharest

Between October 17-19, Control Club returns to the scene of contemporary artistic experimentation, with the second edition of SwordS Festival – an event that brings together poets, actors, musicians and performers, in performances spoken word complemented by music and multimedia projections.

Tickets are available on the Eventbook network.

Alexandrina Hristov, Mircea Florian, Simona Maicanescu, Ioana Crăciunescu, Radu Vancu, Ioana Nicolaie and many others will participate in a dialogue of performing arts, curated by Cosmin Perta and Julian Morar. During three consecutive evenings, the Bucharest public will discover performances that combine poetry, theater, music and visual arts, in an interdisciplinary format.

Spoken word (not) is poetry. Spoken word (not) is theater. Spoken word (not) is music. Spoken word is sound, image and message. Spoken word is vibration. It's communion. It's jazz and hip-hop, it's drama and comedy, it's monologue and it's dialogue. Spoken word is emotion. It's earworm. It's performance. It's symmetry. It's rhyme and rhythm. Spoken word is not political and it is not politics. It's social justice and anxiety. It's mindfulness and self-exploration. It's the voice that stays with you when you walk into the room alone.

Friday, October 17from 19:30, the festival debuts with an immersive performance signed by Alexandrina Hristov, Ioana Crăciunescu and Mircea Florian. Three artists with outstanding careers in music, theater and visual arts create a unique multidisciplinary experience.

Alexandrina Hristov (b. 1978, Chisinau) is a singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and painter. A graduate of the Academy of Music in Chisinau, she released her albums clay man (2009), Thorn flowers (2014), Sirin (2022) and Rules and Games (2025). Her style combines indie pop, jazz, soul, trip-hop and art-pop with recent electronic influences.

Ioana Crăciunescu (b. 1950, Bucharest) is an actress and poet, known for her roles in over 60 plays and 50 films, such as Ion, Sierra Nevada or Murometii 2. In 2023 he received the Gopo Award for his entire activity.

Mircea Florian (b. 1949, Satu Mare) is a composer, performer and multimedia artist. Active since the 70s, he has created music for theatre, film and dance, participated in the Venice Biennale and constantly explores the fusion of music, poetry and visual arts.

Saturday, October 18from 7 p.m., the day after SwordS Festival TO Control Club brings the author to the fore Radu Vancu – fragments of his work will be staged by the actor Răzvan Omotăin a performance completed audio-visual by Julian Morar.

Radu Vancu (b. 1978, Sibiu) is a poet, prose writer, essayist, translator and professor at “Lucian Blaga” University in Sibiu. He was president of PEN Romania (2019–2023) and is editor-in-chief of the magazine Transylvania. He has published numerous volumes of poetry, novels, journals, children's books and academic studies. Translator of Whitman, Berryman and Pound, coordinates the “Poets in Transylvania” International Poetry Festival.

Saturday evening continues with a special performance, an adaptation of the novel “Visionea vizuinii” by Marin Sorescu, which brings together multidisciplinary artists on stage Mircea Florian and Simona Maicanescuwho propose to the public “a fable about us, earthlings, a story about the absurd world, about the crazy society we accept to live in. But… the story is gentle and full of fun and trouble. We will give you some thoughts, written by Sorescu and spoken by Simona, and, above all, the songs invented by Florian… murmured for you – sometimes by him, sometimes by both of us”.

Finally, the project Cinematic. Live (Electrons in Slow Motion + IM pulses)offers an immersive experience that challenges viewers to discover a true dynamic contemporary art gallery, through the mix of innovative technology and artistic expression. Special guest is the graphic artist Mihai Velcescu for a demonstration of live lettering.

Sunday, October 19from 7 p.m., the author Ioana Nicolaie becomes the protagonist of the last evening – fragments of his work will be staged by the actress Cora Butnaruin a performance completed audio-visual by Julian Morar.

Ioana Nicolaie is an award-winning poet and novelist, author of seven novels, five volumes of poetry and eleven children's books. The novels “The Queen's Book”, “All before” and “The Black Wormwood” received numerous awards and were Humanitas bestsellers. Translated into several languages, she is present in international anthologies and participates in literary festivals. Member of the Writers' Union and PEN Romania, won the Bistrita 2025 Literature Prize.

Sunday evening ends with the project Cinematica.Live (Electrons in Slow Motion + IM pulse) alongside Cosmin Perta. A performance about relationships and breaks, about the illusion of love and permanence, in which both always lose. Special guest: Alin Dimache.

SwordS Festival (2nd edition) brings before the Bucharest audience authors, musicians, actors and performers, in three consecutive evenings of performances spoken wordcomplemented by music and multimedia projections – during the period October 17-19 (from Friday to Sunday), at Control Club.

The tickets for SwordS Festival are available in limited quantities and can be purchased from the Eventbook network:

• Subscriptions at the price of 150 lei (valid for the 3 days of the festival, October 17-19)
• One-day tickets at the price of 80 lei

Initiated in 2022, the series of events SWORDS – Spoken Word Sessions brings contemporary artists on stage in a lively dialogue between word, sound and image. Curators: Cosmin Perta and Julian Morar. Partners: Control Club, Cărturesți, Radio Guerrilla

Article supported by SwordS Festival