Comedy in three acts by Alejandro Cassona
Translation: Cornelia Petreanu and Val Săndulescu
National premiere

Artistic direction: Valeriu Grama
Scenography: Maria Haţeganu
Premiere date: February 17, 1968

„"Spring - Forbidden Suicide" is a play built on a dramatic trick. Doctor Roda, who has studied the psychology of those who end their lives for many years, has the original idea of establishing a sanatorium for the cure of mental illnesses that lead to this extreme act. The therapy takes place under the camouflage of a structure that supposedly facilitates mutual aid and solidarity on the road to death; patients are provided with modern means of suicide, as well as Socratic hemlock, viper venom, and the lukewarm bath of the Seneca system. The sanatorium is home to the Imaginary Lover and the Sad Lady, who egotistically exaggerates her pain, sustaining it and even admiring it, Alicia, overwhelmed by loneliness, and Juan, suffering from a pronounced inferiority complex towards his brother, who succeeds in everything in life. But, of course, everything that happens in the magnificent setting of the sanatorium (an isolated castle, surrounded by a magnificent garden) is a regeneration, a rediscovery of the beauty of life. No one commits suicide, and what's more, the patients reintegrate into life with increased hopes. The only attempt is made by Chole, the healthy young woman who ended up in the sanatorium through a tourist accident and who is seduced by the lightness with which the idea of death is approached in the sanatorium. An original lyrical comedy, which demonstrates that there is always a way to solve problems, which are usually less serious, less dramatic than they seem at first glance. The universal remedy seems to be social life, real communication with one's neighbor.

Distribution:

Doctor Roda:  George Musceleanu
Hans:  Marcel Segărceanu
Sad lady:  Doina Urlățeanu
The imaginary lover:  Ion Abrudan, Ben Dumitrescu
Alice:  Ana Popa
Chole:  Gina Nicolae
Fernando:  Nicolae Barosan
John:  John Martin
The other Alicia's father:  Ben Dumitrescu, Ion Abrudan
Chora Yako:  Viorica Cernucan

Technical director: Elena Varlam
Prompter: Sofica Spoiala
Sound: Dorel Olea