About the Pro Teatru Association

We believe big things can happen in small towns too.

We are an independent cultural association from Zalău, Sălaj county, Romania. Since 2018 we have been bringing theatre, performance and cultural education to small towns and forgotten spaces. We are from Zalău, but we think European.

Our story

A STAGE MADE OF PALLETS, IN OUR GRANDPARENTS' YARD

In the summer of 2018, Darius Prodan was a final-year acting student in Sibiu. Zalău had no theatre, so he built a stage out of pallets in his grandparents' yard and performed three shows there. That is how Curtea Artiștilor began.

In 2024, Sălaj was still one of the five Romanian counties without a theatre. The festival started with three shows and grew to more than 150 events in a single summer.

In 2022 we moved the festival into an abandoned industrial hall on Strada Morii. Year by year, we turned it into Moara Artiștilor, the cultural centre Zalău never had.

Audience applauding, seated on pallet benches at the festival
The festival audience
“I truly believe this project is only the beginning.”
Anca Sigartău · actress
What we do

FOUR THINGS, ALL YEAR ROUND

We produce theatre Independent shows, written and staged for the audience here.
We run festivals Sezonul Artiștilor and the Latin American Film Festival at Porolissum.
We train volunteers More than 850 young people have been part of our teams.
We bring spaces back to life Forgotten industrial buildings become places for the community.
Timeline

Moments that define us

2018 We found Pro Teatru.
The first Curtea Artiștilor, in our grandparents' yard.
2019 The festival appears in an ARTE TV documentary.
2020 Our first AFCN grant. We produce Verde Tăiat.
Maia Morgenstern, Pavel Bartoș, Florin Piersic Jr., Răzvan Vasilescu, Marius Bodochi and Anca Sigartău come to the festival.
2021 Verde Tăiat: nominated at the UNITER Gala and selected for the National Theatre Festival.
2022 We are granted the free use of a former communist-era mill, with one hectare of land, for 15 years. We move the festival there and the Moara Artiștilor project begins.
2023 We produce (A)CASĂ. We open the Moara cu Sunet studio and the Moara cu Idei education hub.
2024 We produce Rătăcirea. We open the Moara cu Imagini gallery and the summer stage.
AFCN Gala nomination for (A)CASĂ. Award of Excellence from the Sălaj County Directorate for Culture.
2025 The UNITER Senate Special Award for Moara Artiștilor.
Rătăcirea is nominated at UNITER for best play and selected for the National Theatre Festival.
2026 Curtea Artiștilor becomes Sezonul Artiștilor.
Festivalul de Film Latino-American, la Castrul Roman Porolissum. Pictura murală de 500 mp de pe Moară, semnată de Otto Szatmari.
Networks

EUROPEAN CONNECTIONS

EAIPA Culture Action Europe Culture Next Asociația Teatrelor Independente (Independent Theatres Association)
Team

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE STAGE

Darius Prodan
Darius Prodan
Founder and president · actor
Bianca Pop
Bianca Pop
Volunteer coordinator
Adina Lazăr
Adina Lazăr
Director · Verde Tăiat, (A)CASĂ
Codruța Vaida
Codruța Vaida
Project manager
Oana Prodan
Oana Prodan
Project manager
Laura Chirilă Pașca
Laura Chirilă Pașca
Funding specialist
What's next

A state theatre for Sălaj

On the stage of the 2025 UNITER Gala we announced the project for the „Virgil Flonda” County Theatre in Zalău, which we are discussing with the Sălaj County Council. It would be the first state theatre in the county.

What the press wrote →