by Albert Camus

Translation, stage version and artistic direction: Alina Hiristea
Assistant director: Mariana Presecan
Scenography: Vioara Bara
Set design assistant: Ianis Vasilatos
Soundtrack: Florian Chelu
Premiere date: September 19, 2001

Under the sign of absurdity, the play "Misunderstanding" sheds light on a tragedy born from the lack of communication, when loneliness, lack of horizon and life without love become unbearable. Jan, a young man to whom chance smiles in life, bringing him both well-being and a fulfilled family, returns after a very long absence to the Bohemian village where his mother and sister run an inn. What Jan does not know is that this inn has become a space of death, where women, putting their rare customers to sleep with a special tea, kill them by throwing them into a river. This is the treacherous means by which young Martha hopes to raise enough money to escape from the dark, rainy and narrow land in which she feels imprisoned, to enjoy the sea, the sun and life.

Wanting to enhance the surprise and joy of returning home, Jan hides his true identity, but this innocent game will end tragically. Very little is missing for the two women to recognize their guest and for him to understand the danger that lurks. Premonitions float in the air. A word, a simple gesture would be enough. However, no one sketches this gesture. "Camus captures here inaction as a dominant of human nature, which is why man seems abandoned by God. Lucid with themselves, the people who populate Camus's tragedies are like blind people when it comes to the relationships between them." (Mircea Morariu, in the program booklet of the show)

Under these conditions, the infernal mechanism of fate can no longer be stopped.

The subject of the play is based on a real event that happened in Czechoslovakia during the interwar period.

Distribution:

Martha:  Mariana Presecan
Parent:  Mariana Vasile
Jan:  Dorin Presecan
The old servant:  Marcel Popa
Mary:  Mirela Nita Lupu

Technical director: Florin Popescu
Prompter: Florence Szabo
Lights: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, László Attila Oláh
Sound: Sorin Domide