by Dumitru Solomon

Artistic direction: Alexandru Colpacci
Decor: I. Géza Bíró
Costumes: Tatiana Manolescu Uleu
Premiere date: October 9, 1980

The play "Diogenes the Dog" together with "Plato" and "Socrates" make up a trilogy that is part of a series titled by the author "Contemporary Masks", through which he aimed to dramatically transpose symbols, signs and ideas of moral existence. A play like "Diogenes the Dog" moves away from the idea of "philosophical biography", "sentimental life" or "exemplary destiny" and becomes a metaphor for the universal and contemporary man, troubled by the perennial dilemmas of existence.

As Valeriu Râpeanu notes in the program of the show, the play can be associated with the theater of ideas, in the lineage of Camil Petrescu. As in his theater, the intellectual is at the center in his relationship with the institutionalized forms of power; the confrontation in the moments of maximum tragedy takes place in the field of ideas. In Dumitru Solomon's play, the idea – in this case the idea of freedom – acquires a concrete existence and function.

Considered among the founders of the Cynic philosophical school, Diogenes lived in an Athens that only retained the memory of its famous democratic principles. Showing his unreserved hostility towards the rulers (he is the dog that bites the ostentatiously merciful hand that holds out to him the bone indispensable to life), Diogenes aims to free himself from all social and human servitude: he will live by begging, he will sleep under the open sky, he will not be tied to anyone, he will remain indifferent to everything. He cherishes the hope that he will be listened to, followed, that he will contribute to the purification of morals. When he falls in love, he is afraid that he will be chained, but by giving up love, he feels that he has lost his humanity. In his conflicted interiority, Diogenes loves his will to freedom and hates his inability to have it.

Finally, Diogenes, until then the embodiment of the absolute, unwavering in his aspiration for freedom, begins to doubt himself and enters into a dialogue with his own conscience. He wonders if such freedom, at the limit of elementary life, is possible or is it just a utopia. He understands that society „cannot be changed by imprecations, nor by the most exemplary and stubborn singular protest, but, probably, by the consistent effort of its good side against its bad side…” (Valentin Silvestru in „Romania Literara” no. 48/29, Nov. 1973).

Distribution:

Aristodemus:  Liviu Rozorea
Xeniades:  Jean Sandulescu
Pasiphon:  Nicolae Barosan, Dan Glasu
The guitarist:  Florian Chelu
Diogenes:  Eugen Harizomenov
Aristippus:  Eugen Tugulea
Woman:  Mariana Neagu
The old man:  Nicholas Thomas
The Guard and the Servant:  John Martin
Hipparchia:  Ileana Iurciuc
Plato:  Ion Abrudan
Metrocles:  Laurian Jivan
Father:  Marcel Segărceanu
The slave:  Grig Schiţcu
Alexander the Great:  Marcel Popa

Technical director: Mărioara Goina
Prompter: Dimitrios Stefanidis
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea

Studio show

Screenplay: Mircea Constantinescu, based on texts by: Aeschylus, William Shakespeare, Mihai Eminescu, Ben Jonson, IL Caragiale, Goethe, Bertolt Brecht, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ilf and Petrov

Conceived as a kind of balance sheet of the acting means and skills acquired in the first five years of activity after graduating from the faculty, the show proposed by Mircea Constantinescu – „Gathering the Labor of Time in an Hour” grouped twenty-five fragments from various works that link antiquity to the present, including: „Prometheus” by Aeschylus, „Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand, „Volpone” by Ben Jonson, „Hamlet”, „As You Like It”, „Twelfth Night”, „Romeo and Juliet” and „A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, „Letter I” by Mihai Eminescu, „Night Asylum” by Maxim Gorky, „Danton” by Camil Petrescu, „Master Manole” by Lucian Blaga. The guiding ideas of the show were the following: art does not copy, does not imitate, but creates life; theater is even more than life itself; The themes of meditation were numerous and varied: cosmogony, truth, human revolt, the purposes of art and the artist, intelligence, freedom, falsehood, happiness, love, sacrifice, balance, history, optimism, loneliness, struggle. The show questioned trust in man and the values he embodies, raising the ultimate question: what are the meanings of our passage through the world?

Artistic direction and performance: Mircea Constantinescu
Scenography:  Zoltan Zsako
Music: Marian Boboia
Musical direction: LOUIS Boross
Premiere date: June 20, 1980

Comedy in two parts by Tudor Popescu

Artistic director: Mihai Lungeanu
Scenography: Tatiana Manolescu Uleu
Music: Trendler Iosif and Cornel Cristei
Premiere date: June 12, 1980

After fifteen years together, marriage has become an endless source of bickering, maddening arguments that spring from nowhere, and malicious suspicions for Ioana and Dinu. To escape, at least for a few days, from this circle, Dinu invents a sprain that forces him to stay at home with his leg in a cast, while Ioana goes to the mountains with their son. Once they leave, the cast miraculously disappears, making way for a long-awaited party with his bachelor friends. On his return, Dinu accidentally enters the apartment below, where he comes across a beautiful stranger, Otilia, whom he prevents from committing a burglary by leading her to his home. The extramarital affair that is invitingly announced cannot take place, however, due to the omnipresence of Ioana, who, although gone, leaves her voice imprinted on a tape recorder, bringing Dinu into a state of despair bordering on madness.

When, the next morning, Pamfil, the neighbor from the apartment below, is found dead, Dinu sees his whole life turned upside down. Knowing that his fingerprints are found at the crime scene and that he spent a lot of time with the criminal, Dinu already sees himself imprisoned for complicity in murder. The terrible disorder to which he falls prey makes him realize how much he actually loves Ioana and how useless their daily grind is.

The police investigation reveals that Pamfil is not dead at all, but suffered a heart attack, and Otilia was in his apartment looking for a valuable archaeological piece, stolen by the impostor Pamfil from the girl's father.

Ioana's return from the mountains is a moment of enlightenment and, thanks to the intervention of neighbor Paul, witness to the entire episode, a potential new beginning for the two.

Distribution:

Dinu:  Nicolae Barosan
Joanna:  Ileana Iurciuc
Sibyl:  Olympia Tomorrow
Paul:  Ion Abrudan
Otilia:  Mariana Neagu
Militiaman:  Eugen Harizomenov

National premiere by Keskin Yîldîrîm
Translation: Viorica Dinescu

Artistic direction and scenography: Sergiu Savin
Musical illustration: Nicolae Moranciu and Şerban Lupu
Choreography: Maria Brata
Premiere date: May 15, 1980

Built with a dreamlike feel, the show "The Indictment" portrayed a nightmare world in which the rather brief psychology of the characters, who do not even have proper names, reduces them to archetypes.

"indictment takes up an old theme of universal literature: the upstart and the moral compromises he must make to achieve abject goals. Recalling his journey from pariah status to that of great potentate, the central character of the play does nothing but evoke a series of betrayals, onerous pacts and crimes that propelled him into the upper strata of society. The higher he reaches, the greater the compromises are, from leaving a love interest in a brothel to killing the patron to take his place, wealth and wife, being a long journey not only in terms of time, but especially in terms of alienation, as a dimension of moral decomposition. The ambitions that fuel the rise of the upstart are unstoppable, they completely capture the individual, dragging him into a dizzying vortex of rapid transitions from the position of executioner to that of victim. Moreover, the hero of the play will convince himself that his path is not unique, but part of a well-tuned and ruthless mechanism, which tenaciously devours its victims. Filth spreads, betrayals multiply, crime breeds crime, the hero of the play ultimately sharing the fate of his victims.” (Dumitru Chirilă, „Familia”, May, 1980)

Distribution:

The man:  Liviu Rozorea
The valet:  Radu Vaida
Mistress:  Anca Miere Chirilă
Wife:  Mariana Neagu
Sister:  Ileana Iurciuc
Old lady:  Simona Constantinescu
Another man:  Dimitrios Stefanidis

Technical director: Mărioara Goina
Prompter: Dimitrios Stefanidis
Lights: Iosif Balogh
Sound: Dorel Olea

Play in two parts by Nelu Ionescu

Artistic director: Eugen Ţugulea
Scenography: Tatiana Manolescu Uleu
Soundtrack:  LOUIS Boross
Premiere date: March 13, 1980

The highly successful play "How Catinca the Old Woman Survived" is ostensibly built around the theme of the condition of women, but in reality we are dealing with a drama of loneliness. The play's action follows, over thirty years, the biography of a woman, a typical product of the social mutations of the time.

After her childhood in the countryside and studies, Catinca first works as a nurse, then, after finishing her studies at a pharmacy school, she gets a job at a pharmacy in a commune. The play suggests that the skills and qualities of this peasant girl could have taken her even further and that settling into that position was a personal choice. Professional achievement is opposed, however, by failure in her personal life. In this regard, the experiences are unfortunate, mistakes alternate with disappointments and misfortunes, hesitations with categorical refusals. In a direct, journalistic style, the author groups around the heroine several profiles, from the aggressive and cynical type (the Doctor), to the island devoid of personality (Andu), from the egoist with a dry soul (the Lecturer) to the man of great warmth and generosity (Mihai). The focus falls both on Catinca's series of failures and on the procession of figures she interacts with, each of whom could become a case study. The heroine does not seek the absolute, a perfect chosen one, beyond the limits of humanity. Simply put, in every situation, Catinca refuses compromise, and the price paid is loneliness.

Distribution:

Catinca:  Mariana Neagu
Olympia:  Alla Tautu
The prosecutor:  Marcel Segărceanu
The doctor:  Eugen Harizomenov
Andu: Ion Abrudan
Ion:  Nicolae Barosan 
Associate Professor Atanasiu:  Laurian Jivan
Seamstress:  Anca Miere Chirilă
Michael:  Marcel Popa
Waitress:  Olympia Tomorrow
The mayor:  John Martin
Ileana:  Mariana Vasile, Florence Manea

Technical director: Elena Varlam
Prompter: Florence Szabo
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea

Musical comedy in three parts by György Méhes
Translation: Gelu Păteanu
Lyrics of the songs: Al.Covaci

Artistic direction: József Gábor
Assistant director: Jean Săndulescu
Scenography: Maria Haţeganu
Music: Ludovic Boross
Premiere date: February 28, 1980

Day after day, Valentin, an accomplished actor, feels like he is returning home to a prison, suffocated by the trivialities of everyday life. Ana, his wife, takes pleasure in the role of martyr of the family, overwhelmed by the household chores that are added to her job as a pharmacist, bringing her to exhaustion. Gabi and Alice, their twin children who have reached adolescence, are in a perpetual dispute. This is the picture of a family that is far from functioning ideally. However, one day, unexpectedly, Ana wins a competition run by the Radiodifuzioni: supposedly, she has discovered the secret of a happy marriage!

From that moment on, Ana is invited to television and radio, overwhelmed by letters from people asking for guidance from "Mrs. Mâmica" and becomes a national heroine, while in her own home events take place that could endanger the entire balance of the family. Journalist Erika enters the family under the pretext of capturing a few snapshots from the life of the great actor. Young, provocative, she lures Valentin into a dangerous game of seduction, which nevertheless does not go unnoticed by Mimi, Ana's friend, and the children.

When Ana returns from a trip to the capital, this game is exposed, but their marriage is far from falling apart. Broken, Valentin promises to descend from his artistic spheres into the everyday life of washing dishes and peeling potatoes, and Erika, realizing that she has chosen the wrong object of her adoration, leaves angrily.

Ana's line, which ends the play: "My father asked me to marry him" is the promise of a new beginning in the family's life.

Distribution:

Anna:  Simona Constantinescu
Valentine:  Jean Sandulescu
Alice:  Ileana Iurciuc
Gabi:  Mircea Constantinescu
Erica:  Kati Gabor
Mimi:  Alla Tautu
Innocent:  John Martin 

Technical director: Mărioara Goina
Prompter: Dimitrios Stefanidis
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dumitru Olea

show-coupé

Artistic director: Magda Bordeianu
Scenography: Valeriu Cristian
Premiere date: February 23, 1980

Picnic on the battlefield
by Fernando Arrabal
Translation: Alexandru Baciu

Distribution:
Zapo:  Mircea Constantinescu
Mr. Tepan:  Liviu Rozorea
Mrs. Tepan:  Anca Miere Chirilă
Zepo:  Radu Vaida

At the end of the war, the Emperor wishes to celebrate his victory over his fiercest enemy with a grand celebration in the city. On the way to the festivities, he meets the poor Beggar, glued to the ground, sadder than ever after the loss of his only companion, his faithful dog. In the spirit of victory, the Emperor wants to prove his magnanimity by allowing himself a conversation with the humble Beggar.

Thus begins an exceptional debate between ruler and subject, a lesson about rich and poor, a clash between two worlds, an inspired dialogue about history, truth and life. But are the two really conversing, or are they just holding two parallel monologues, passing each other by? The answer remains a mystery, as do the answers to the tormenting questions: what does it really mean to be a master, to rule over people? Is there history? Is the beggar a stoic sage or a fool? Who sees the situation clearly? And what does clairvoyance mean, after all?

Only at the end of the play do the audience understand that the Beggar is blind. Which raises another question: Would the Beggar have spoken the same way if he had known who he was talking to?

The beggar or the dead dog
by Bertolt Brecht
Translation: Petre Stoica

At the end of the war, the Emperor wishes to celebrate his victory over his fiercest enemy with a grand celebration in the city. On the way to the festivities, he meets the poor Beggar, glued to the ground, sadder than ever after the loss of his only companion, his faithful dog. In the spirit of victory, the Emperor wants to prove his magnanimity by allowing himself a conversation with the humble Beggar.

Thus begins an exceptional debate between ruler and subject, a lesson about rich and poor, a clash between two worlds, an inspired dialogue about history, truth and life. But are the two really conversing, or are they just holding two parallel monologues, passing each other by? The answer remains a mystery, as do the answers to the tormenting questions: what does it really mean to be a master, to rule over people? Is there history? Is the beggar a stoic sage or a fool? Who sees the situation clearly? And what does clairvoyance mean, after all?

Only at the end of the play do the audience understand that the Beggar is blind. Which raises another question: Would the Beggar have spoken the same way if he had known who he was talking to?

Distribution:
The Emperor:  Radu Vaida
The beggar:  Liviu Rozorea

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Florence Szabo
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dumitru Olea

Comedy in three acts by Teodor Mazilu
Absolute premiere

Artistic direction and musical illustration: Mircea Cornişteanu
Decor:  Alexi Kiss
Costumes: Tatiana Manolescu Uleu
Premiere date: November 29, 1979

„"Art without morality does not exist (…). However, art does not contain moral laws and paragraphs, but seeks to capture morality in relation to the dramatic movement of life, subjecting it to a process of transfiguration, specific to this admirable way of knowing the world." (Teodor Mazilu).

It has been said many times that Teodor Mazilu's dramaturgy is that of a moralist, and the comedy "Furniture and Pain" is no exception. Under the playwright's magnifying glass are two negative destinies, which share the same trait: stupidity. Sile, the director of the "Avântul mobilei" cooperative, an upstart and a philistine, is proud that he ended up losing at a card game, because "this only happens to boyars" and considers that the transition from a stupid priest to a poker player is the great achievement of his life. Gore, his lowly subordinate, seeks to demonstrate perfect discipline, by discipline understanding "the totality of a subordinate's efforts to appear stupider than his boss." (Dimitrie Bălan, "Familia", December 1979). The desire to acquire characterizes all the characters in the play: each one wants leadership positions, trips abroad, pedigree dogs, valuable paintings, but when it comes to giving, immorality and stinginess make them totally helpless. All values are overturned, even respect for the law becomes disqualifying. Any moral feeling is falsified in a whole process of alienation, of loss of the attributes that define the state of normality of the human being.

Distribution:

Strengths:  Liviu Rozorea
Gore:  Nicolae Barosan
Earache:  Eugen Harizomenov
Lizica:  Elisabeta Jar, Florence Manea
Paul:  Nicholas Thomas
Melania:  Cristina Schiopu

Technical director: Elena Varlam
Prompter: Florence Szabo
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea

AWARDS:
-For the role of Sile, actor Liviu Rozorea was awarded the Magazine Award Tribune for the year 1979

Comedy in four acts by I.L.Caragiale

Artistic direction: Alexandru Colpacci
Decor: architect Dan Jitianu
Costumes: Maria Hateganu
Musical illustration: Mircea Piciu
Musical direction: Ludovic Boross
Premiere date: November 8, 1979

A major achievement of Caragiale, the comedy "A Lost Letter" demonstrates, by exploiting the valences of hilarity, like the sketch "Telegrams", that the dispute actually involves not differences in ideological principles, but only petty personal interests; as soon as these are covered, the conflict subsides.

The plot captures an event that seems minor, but which is ready to shake everyone's security: Zoe Trahanache inadvertently loses a love letter she received from the county prefect, Ştefan Tipătescu. Reaching the hands of Nae Caţavencu through the torment of the anonymous voter, the letter becomes an object of blackmail. After stirring up everyone's spirits, the letter returns to the possession of the Tormented Citizen, who, a former "postman", returns it to the "andrisant", that is, to Zoe. The critic Pompiliu Constantinescu appreciates in "Scrieri elese" that "the classical symmetry of the plot is Molieresque". There are two similar letters in the play: that of Tipătescu to Zoe - with a circular meaning and that of a "beaker" from an important person - with a unique meaning. The letter itself becomes a presence, an animated object, but also a symbol of power, of hidden immorality, of restless conscience.

The political conflict of the play is motivated by the circumstances in which the action is set: in 1883, when the issue of revising the Constitution was raised and elections for deputies were organized. The local organization of the government party, chaired by Zaharia Trahanache, supports the candidacy of lawyer Tache Farfuridi. Having the exponents of key institutions alongside them: the prefecture-through Ștefan Tipătescu and the police-through Ghiță Pristanda, the party has a chance to win. At the opposite pole is the independent (dissident) group, led by Nae Caţavencu. In the end, when the letter is found, Caţavencu, threatened, after a humiliating fall to his knees, admits that he forged the letter; moreover, he is forced to lead the celebration organized in honor of the election as deputy of Agamemnon Dandanache, sent from the center, an amalgam of stupidity, cunning and hypocrisy.

Distribution:

Stefan Tipatescu:  Mircea Constantinescu
Agamemnon Dandanache:  Jean Sandulescu, Grig Schitcu
Zacharias Trahanache:  Nicholas Thomas
Tache Farfuridi:  Eugen Tugulea
Iordache Branzovenescu:  Ion Abrudan, Marcel Popa
Nae Catavencu:  Liviu Rozorea, Ion Abrudan
Ionescu:  Laurian Jivan
Pope:  Marcel Segărceanu
Ghita Pristanda:  Eugen Harizomenov
The tormented citizen:  Ion Tomorrow
Zoe Trahanache:  Simona Constantinescu
Voters:  Nicolae Barosan, Anca Miere Chirilă, Ileana Iurciuc, Ion Martin, Mariana Neagu, Cristina Şchiopu, Alla Tăutu, Mariana Vasile, Dan Glasu, and in the 1981 Athens tournament:  Dorel Olea, Elisabeta Pop, Maria Goina, Ioan Rat

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Dimitrios Stefanidis
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea

Musical story for young and old by Lev Ustinov
Translation: Elisabeta Pop
National premiere

Artistic director: Otto Szombati Gille
Scenography: I. Géza Bíró
Music: Cornel Cristei
Musical direction: Ludovic Boross
Premiere date: October 2, 1979

The musical show "Crystal Heart", addressed to both children and their parents, brings to the stage a magical world, in which the characters are divided into opposing camps, their affiliation being suggested even by their names: the Princess, the Good King, the Mathematician, the Craftsman, the Doctor and the Ballerina opposite the Conqueror King, the Evil Prince and the General, embodiments of strength, violence, wickedness. The show demonstrates how it is possible to replace an evil heart with a new one, made of crystal, in which not a single ounce of wickedness fits. The tonic and optimistic message of the story-play is subsumed by the author's belief, according to which "being good means not asking, but giving, not demanding, but offering; and the spirit of sacrifice means sacrificing only yourself."„

Distribution:

The doctor:  Marcel Segărceanu
The craftsman:  John Martin
The dancer:  Cristina Schiopu
The mathematician:  Radu Vaida
The conquering king:  Eugen Harizomenov
The Little Prince:  Nicolae Barosan
The General:  Grig Schiţcu
King Trembling:  Marcel Popa
The Cowardly Princess:  Mariana Vasile
General:  Anca Miere Chirilă

Technical director: Marioara Goina
Prompter: Florence Manea Szabo
Lighting: Vasile Blejan, Emeric Kozák
Sound: Dorel Olea

Comedy by Mircea Bereş, based on an idea by Oscar Wilde
National premiere

Artistic director: Mircea Cornișteanu
Scenography: Tatiana Manolescu Uleu
Musical illustration: Cornel Pop
Premiere date: June 14, 1979

„"The Ghost with Braces" is based on a short story by Oscar Wilde and largely retains the verve, brilliance, and subtle humor that characterize the writings of the famous English author. "The play is about a castle that the last descendant of an illustrious aristocratic family, Lord Augustus Canterville, specialized in chopping up heirlooms, sells to an American who has become rich through the braces trade, Hiram Otis. According to the contract, the new owner takes over the castle with its entire inventory, alive or dead, including a ghost that there are indications of making its way through the rooms as soon as midnight strikes (Greenwich time), causing some inconvenience to the residents. Pragmatic structures, free from prejudices, neither the American buyer nor the members of his family are in the least impressed by the existence of the ghost: Mr. Otis will propose to advertise his braces, Mrs. Otis (...) will cause him human disturbances by her nocturnal appearance in a brief toilet, the twins Washington and Lincoln (how could it be otherwise?) will play unpleasant pranks on him, only the romantic Miss Virginia Otis will show compassion for the troubles of the poor ghost (…). The comedy ultimately reveals that the ghost is not even an honest ghost, but the rightful owner of the castle, forced by some complications to live in hiding.” (Dumitru Chirilă, Familia, June 1979)

Distribution:

Lord Augustus Canterville:  Jean Sandulescu
Lord Henry:  Nicolae Barosan
Lady Elinor:  Elizabeth Jar
Umney:  Alla Tautu
The valet:  Eugen Harizomenov, Grig Schitcu
The Duke of Chesire:  Liviu Rozorea
Cecil Plimick:  Laurian Jivan
Hiram Otis:  Marcel Segărceanu
Washington:  Ileana Iurciuc
Lincoln:  Mariana Vasile
Lucretia Otis:  Mariana Neagu
Virginia Otis:  Cristina Schiopu
Sir Simon (Ghost):  Marcel Popa

Technical director: Elena Varlam
Prompter: Florence Manea Szabo
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea

Comedy in two parts by Victorien Sardou and Emile Moreau
Translation: Radu Popescu

Artistic direction:  Otto Szombati Gille
Scenography: Eliza Popescu
Musical illustration: Ludovic Boross
Premiere date: May 24, 1979

Written in 1893, „Madame Sans-Gêne” revives the era of the Napoleonic Empire, being defined by Jules Lemaître as „a picturesque, sumptuous and sparkling historical – or anecdotal – vaudeville.” The character of Catherine combines the traits of two women whose real existence amused and inspired the French playwright. Thérèse Figueur, daughter of a miller from Pontoise, became a vivandière and accompanied the French army in the Napoleonic battles as far as Spain and Prussia. For her incisive, dynamic and talkative manner, Thérèse was nicknamed „Sans-Gêne”. The second historical figure at the heart of the play is Catherine Hubscher, a laundress from Paris married to Joseph Lefèvbre – the future Marshal of the Empire and Duke of Danzig. Intelligent, agile, she amused the Court with her picturesque and frank way of speaking, which always betrayed her modest origins. Both embody resistance to the hypocrisy of high society, having common sense, sincerity, generosity, and honesty on their side.

Distribution:

Catherine Madame Sans-Gêne:  Cristina Schiopu
Roussette and Mrs. Talbouet:  Ileana Iurciuc
Toinin and Mrs. Debrignoles:  Mariana Vasile
Julie and Madame de Savary:  Florence Manea
Fouche:  Ion Abrudan
Lefebvre:  Eugen Harizomenov
Neipperg:  Nicolae Barosan
Vabontrain Corso:  Laurian Jivan
Rissont Constant:  John Martin
Jasmine:  Grig Schitcu, Nicolae Toma
Caroline:  Simona Constantinescu
Eliza:  Elizabeth Jar
Savary:  Jean Sandulescu
Napoleon:  Liviu Rozorea
Saint-Morsan:  Marcel Popa
Lauriston:  Eugen Tugulea
Debrigode:  Marcel Segărceanu
About:  Mircea Constantinescu
Mrs. Bassano:  Anca Miere Chirilă
Mrs. Bullow:  Alla Tautu
Mrs. Aldo Brandini:  Olympia Tomorrow
In other roles:  Ladislau Tolnai Tank, Nicolae Covaci, Dimitrios Stefanidis

Technical director: Marioara Goina
Prompter: Florence Manea
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea

Play in five scenes by Mircea Bradu
National premiere

Artistic direction: Alexandru Colpacci
Decor: Romulus Peneş
Costumes: Maria Hateganu
Premiere date: March 24, 1979

„"The right of my nation is more precious to me than my life" was the credo of the Romanian activist Vasile Lucaciu, whose prominent figure is at the center of the historically inspired play "The Heart". The play follows several key moments in his life, from before the drafting of the Memorandum of 1892 until his election as a deputy in Parliament in 1907. A priest and professor from Transylvania, a doctor of philosophy in Rome, with relations with Europe and America through the Cultural and Political League of which he was president for a time, Vasile Lucaciu firmly established himself as a man of culture, pedagogue, orator and publicist, campaigning for the rights of Romanians under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Latinity and continuity of the Romanian people have always concerned him, not only through their historical character, but also through their political impact.

Distribution:

The Minister:  Jean Sandulescu
Verbőczy:  Eugen Harizomenov
Bishop Szabó:  Ion Tomorrow
Vasile Lucaciu:  Liviu Rozorea
Lorenzo:  Mircea Constantinescu
Mary:  Cristina Schiopu
Apple:  Eugen Tugulea
The old lady:  Anca MiereCyrilă
Janos:  István Darkó
Pauline:  Simona Constantinescu
Rouquette:  Radu Vaida, Ion Martin
Prosecutor Cserna:  Marcel Segărceanu
The President:  Ion Martin, Sandor Técsi
Gaborffy:  Ion Abrudan
Trojan:  Laurian Jivan
Ashkenazi:  Nicolae Barosan
The Count:  Nicholas Thomas
Wallner:  Marcel Popa
Judges:  Alla Tautu, Grig Schitcu

Technical director: Elena Varlam
Prompter: Dimitrios Stefanidis
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea

by Tennessee Williams
Translation: Radu Nichita

Artistic direction: Liviu Rozorea
Scenography: Maria Haţeganu
Premiere date: February 15, 1979

In an empty room, an anonymous Man and a Woman are bound to each other by pain and despair. Both have reached the lowest limit of existence and resistance, beyond which they no longer expect anything. She has only drunk water for three days, and He obsessively repeats how he woke up in a bathtub full of ice cubes, without knowing how and why he got there or what happened before. It is a solitude for two, in which each person's soliloquies echo in the void, without managing to become a dialogue. The generous monologues explore in a poetic and symbolic language themes such as love, death, the decline of man or the difficulty of communication.

Interpreters:

Elizabeth Jar
Liviu Rozorea

by Euripides
Translation: Vasile Covaci
Premiere in the country. With the title Thracian king The show was broadcast on national television.

Artistic direction: Sergiu Savin
Scenography: Eliza Popescu
Sound effects: Cornel Ungur
Premiere date: February 24, 1979

Taking its subject from Book X of the Iliad, the tragedy Rhesus focuses on the figure of the Thracian king who was, according to some scholars, a disciple of Zamolxes. The play recounts the events that culminated in the treacherous murder of the hero who came to the aid of the Trojans.

The play begins in an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear for the fate of the city of Troy. The brightest moment is represented by the appearance of the Thracian king, in a chariot with gold and silver, who restores the Trojans' confidence in victory. The Thracian expedition is not a simple war adventure, but has clear historical reasons and determinations. Rhesus arrives at Hector not to divide the spoils of war, but to immediately enter the battle. He does not have time to do so because the Dushans enter the camp, discover his tent and kill him in his sleep.

As Ioan Lazar notes in "Scânteia" of March 14, 1979, "the entire action is designed to impose the personality of the Thracian king. Here we have not a simple spectacle, but an act of bibliographical restitution." The authority and prestige of the titular hero are put at the service of those who want peace and tranquility; dignity is combined with the character's humanity, with his spirit of justice and, last but not least, with trust in the values of friendship for which he even gives his life.

Distribution:

Hector:  Ion Tomorrow
Aeneas:  Eugen Tugulea
Dolon:  Radu Vaida
The Messenger:  John Martin
Rhesus:  Liviu Rozorea
Ulysses:  Eugen Harizomenov
Diomedes:  Marcel Popa
Athens:  Elizabeth Jar
Aphrodite:  Cristina Şchiopu, Mariana Neagu
Paris:  Ion Abrudan
Muse:  Alla Tautu
The soldier:  Nicolae Barosan
Corypheus:  Mircea Constantinescu
Guards' Choir:  Laurian Jivan, Grig Schitcu, Marcel Segărceanu
In figuration:  Dimitrios Stefanidis, Lajos Török
Song performer:  Anca Miere Chirilă

Technical director: Marioara Goina
Prompter: Florence Manea
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea

The show was awarded with:
-Second prize for the show
-Award for scenography (Eliza Popescu) at the Short Theatre Week, Oradea, 3rd edition, 1979

Comedy by Dimitris Psatas
Translation: Corneliu Şerban and Lambros Zogas
National premiere

Artistic direction:  Otto Szombati Gille
Scenography: Tatiana Manolescu Uleu
Premiere date: November 21, 1978

Inspired by the realities of the contemporary world, the comedy "The Little Pharisees" by the Greek playwright Dimitris Psatos places individuals who are struggling with morality under scrutiny and exposes hypocrisy, falsehood, and the thirst for enrichment. In "Familia" no. 12 of December 1978, Dumitru Chirilă gives the following succinct presentation of the plot: "A respectable gentleman, with a serious wife and a girl to marry, makes a rendezvous with a no less respectable but much younger neighbor, in an apartment they consider discreet, hidden from the eyes and ears of the world. In the way of the extramarital happiness of their two neighbors, a rather foolish young man, a "world-troublemaker", appears inopportunely. In the next act, the complications will increase, because the young man turns out to be – no more, no less – the very expected suitor for the hand of the respectable gentleman's daughter and since at the previous meeting the illegal couple had declined a false identity, it will not be easy at all to cope with the perplexity and curiosity of the legal partners, the moment they feel that "there is something". (…) Everything in an avalanche of entanglements, funny situations and well-placed punchlines, including an ending in which the hero, believing himself to be in a limit situation, makes some uncontrolled confessions. " Thus ends the parade of "honesty" and "correctness".

Distribution:

Mine:  Florence Manea
Michael:  Nicolae Barosan
Tanasis:  Marcel Popa
Deli:  Ion Tomorrow
Betty:  Mariana Neagu
Aristides:  Ion Abrudan
Apples:  Ileana Iurciuc
Lucia:  Alla Tautu
Anna:  Anca Miere Chirilă
Menelaus:  Nicholas Thomas
Hotel owner:  Laurian Jivan
His wife:  Mariana Vasile

Technical director: Marioara Goina
Prompter: Florence Manea
Lights: Emeric Kozak
Musical illustration and sound design: Dorel

by Luigi Pirandello
Translation: R.A. Locusteanu

Stage version and artistic direction: Alexandru Colpacci
Scenography: architect Dan Jitianu
Set design assistant: Ligia Naghel, Dan Costinescu, Maria Haţeganu
Music and lyrics: Nicu Alifantis
Musical illustration: Cornel Pop
Premiere date: November 2, 1978

Alexandru Colpacci, the director of the memorable play that was the highlight of the 1978-1979 season, defined the show "Tonight is Improvisation" as a form of "collective confession." Indeed, the show allows the actors to show their own profession on stage, through a hallucinatory game in which theater is analyzed in its intimacy.

Right from the entrance to the hall, the audience discovers the actors in front of the curtain while they are doing their hair, putting on their make-up, in a word – doing everything that usually happens away from the eyes of the world. Thus, the first part of the show introduces the audience to the laboratory of theatrical creation, makes them co-authors of a whole series of experiments. The show, far from being the finished product we are used to, but the actors and the director are still groping their way. Modalities of psychological theatre, of folk theatre, of circus show, of pantomime, of oneiric theatre, of absurd theatre are tried. The tensions between the actors and the director Hinkfuss raise questions such as: who is the author of the show? What takes precedence in the acting construction? The text or the director's instructions? To what extent and how should the fusion of the actor and the character occur?

The second part of the play explores how the actors are totally subordinate to their characters and how art becomes life. The actors lose their own identity and end up faithfully embodying the members of the La Croce family or the group of officers. It is the only position in which they become truly authentic. Thus, the spectator is presented with the drama of Mommina, who is forced to marry, but in the new commitment finds a slow but certain death, caused by the morbid jealousy of her husband, Rico Verri.

Of course, this conflict is just a pretext and the "improvisation" mentioned in the title is just a convention to ingeniously illustrate the winding path from the pre-existing form represented by the dramatic text to the finished theatrical work.

Distribution:

Director Hinkfuss:  Liviu Rozorea
The old comic actor (Whistles):  Nicholas Thomas
Mrs. Ignazia (character actress):  Simona Constantinescu
Leading Actress (Mommina):  Cristina Schiopu
The main actor (Rico Verri):  Mircea Constantinescu
Totina:  Mariana Neagu
Desire:  Mariana Vasile
Nene:  Ileana Iurciuc
Pomarici:  Laurian Jivan
Nardi:  Ion Abrudan
Sarelli:  Radu Vaida
Cheekbones:  Nicolae Barosan
Mangini:  Marcel Popa
Singer:  Alla Tautu
A lady:  Doina Urlățeanu
Opera singer:  Anca Miere Chirilă
Consumers:  Grig Schitcu, Eugen Harizomenov, Ion Martin
The candy seller:  Florence Manea
A young man:  Dimitrios Stefanidis
Children:  Anca and Lioara Bradu

Technical director: Marioara Goina
Prompter: Dimitrios Stefanidis
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea

Show distinguished with:
-ATM Award for scenography, 1978, (Dan Jitianu)
-the award for the most homogeneous band
-Female Performance Award (Cristina Şchiopu)
-the male performance award (Liviu Rozorea) at the Festival of the Art of the Contemporary Actor in Dialogue with the Audience, 2nd edition, Satu Mare, 1979

by Molière
Translation: Aurel Baranga
Show produced together with Romanian Television

Artistic director: Domnita Munteanu
Decor: Vasile Rotaru
Costumes: Ruxandra Bârsan
Music: Nicolae Moranciu
Premiere date: October 10, 1978

Often called a "farce," the play "The Wiles of Scapin" is perhaps Molière's most cheerful comedy, of popular inspiration. Derived from the archetype of the Italian commedia dell'arte, Scapin—energetic, resourceful, optimistic, superior to his masters—became a type that would be found in all dramatic literature after Molière, from Regnard to Marivaux and Beaumarchais.

The plot of the play bears a classical imprint. In the absence of their fathers, Octave secretly married Hyacinthe and Leandre fell in love with Zerbinette. But the fathers return from their journey with marriage plans for their sons. Scapin, Leandre's valet, comes to the aid of the two young couples, applying an ingenious stratagem, with deceptions and disguises, demonstrating that for him nothing is impossible. In the end, the valet's agility and inventiveness triumph, so that at the party that puts an end to the adventures, Scapin occupies nothing more and nothing less than the head of the table...

Distribution:

Argante:  Eugen Tugulea
Gerontius:  Ion Tomorrow
Octaves:  Radu Vaida
Leander:  Mircea Constantinescu
Zerbinette:  Elizabeth Jar
Hyacinth:  Ileana Iurciuc
I'm sorry:  Liviu Rozorea
Sylvester:  Eugen Harizomenov
Nerine:  Anca Miere Chirilă
Carla:  Ion Abrudan

Technical director: Marioara Goina
Prompter: Elena Varlam
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Chief Operator: C. Lungu
Sound: Dorel Olea