Officially, Mask Theatre was founded on May 24th 1990.
The idea of founding a new theatre first appeared in December of 1989, during the dying days of the old political system. It seemed then that art itself had to be renewed. Anca Dana Florea – director – and Mihai Malaimare – actor at the National Theatre in Bucharest – both decided at that time that it was the moment for a new beginning.
At first, they envisioned this new institution as a private initative. As it turned out very soon there was little chance for it to resist in this form, so they fought to establish Mask Theatre as a subsidized institution, subordinated to the Ministry of Culture. Few months later, the Prime Minister Petre Roman signed the decision that can be regarded as the birth certificate of Mask Theatre.