Vaudeville in three acts by Aurel Baranga

Artistic direction: Mihai Raicu
Scenography: Maria Haţeganu
Premiere date: December 13, 1969

„"Be good, Cristofor!" addresses the perennial theme of family and the trials this nucleus goes through when the harmony of the beginning is eroded by the passing of the years. Composer Cristofor Bellea is married to Ema, but routine is strongly felt in their marriage. Each one seems to be not living, that he is "vegetating", that "this week is similar to the last", that he "feels tired", that he "has aged prematurely", that "everything is bleak", that the other is "absent", "indifferent", "absorbed exclusively by his own concerns". True to his artist nature, Cristofor treats his wife with superiority, crushes her personality and even allows himself to have secret meetings with Anca, the family's best friend. The earthquake occurs when the submissive wife, who has left the town to see to her father's health, sends her husband a note from the train station announcing that she is leaving him for another man. The drama takes on a bovine tone: the husband suffers, but more out of pride than out of love: he rebels at the thought that his wife could fall in love with someone else. Everything seems to end well when, near the end, the incident turns out to be a farce. The ending is actually quite bitter, because the wife really leaves Cristofor, not for another man, but for her own happiness. Through a game of alternations, the playwright suggests that perhaps if Cristofor had been married to Anca, his attention would have turned to Ema, because he is and remains an adventurer in love.

Distribution:

Valeriu Stambuliu:  Jean Sandulescu
Victoria Sava:  Doina Ioja
Christopher Bellea:  Nicholas Thomas
Ema Bellea and Anca Stambuliu:  Simona Constantinescu

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Sofica Spoiala
Musical illustration and sound design: Dorel Olea