Romanian painter, theatre, film, and opera designer, creator of puppets and set designs for puppet theatre. Sever Frențiu graduated in 1955 from the Institutul de Arte Plastice “Ion Andreescu” (Ion Andreescu Institute of Fine Arts) in Cluj-Napoca. He collaborated with Țăndărică Puppet Theatre (today, Teatrul de animaţie Ţăndărică) creating the designs for several shows among which were: Amnarul (The Tinderbox, 1975), after Hans Christian Andersen, directed by Ștefan Lenkisch and performed in Denmark; and The Snow Queen (1980), also based on an Andersen tale, directed by Margareta Niculescu at Det Norske Teater (The Norwegian Theatre) in Oslo. In this latter production the actors integrated large graphic shapes, which created the moving scenery. The puppet characters were built on the actors who found innovative movements to create the characters.

Among his puppetry productions are Le chant des roseaux (The Song of the Reeds, 1985), designed for the Théâtre des Marionnettes de Genève in Switzerland and directed by Irina Niculescu. He also collaborated with director Irina Niculescu in Mostrahaven, Norway, creating the puppets for the outdoor show Sunniva og Viking Ravn (Sunniva and Raven the Viking, 1995). The show combined puppets, actors, singers, a chorus, and musicians, and marked the celebration of 1,000 years of Christianity in Norway.   

Sever Frențiu’s designs were imaginative and poetic and his visual images moved the public by their chromatic beauty. He created numerous theatre, film, and opera designs in Romania, where he was also known as a painter.   

(See Romania.)