Historical drama in five acts by Barbu Ştefănescu Delavrancea
Artistic director: Ion Deloreanu
Assistant director: Sanda Tîlvan Băltăreţu
Scenography: Tatiana Manolescu Uleu
Musical illustration: Lucian Ionescu
Premiere date: October 2, 1963
„"Luceafărul" represents the last artistic act of Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea's trilogy dedicated to the history of Moldavia, which begins with 1504 (the year of Stephen the Great's death) and ends with 1538 (the year of Petru Rareș's departure into exile). Until the 1963 Oradea staging, the play "Luceafărul" had been staged only once, at the National Theater in Bucharest, in 1910, the year it was written.
„"Through the theme, through some characters and situations, through style even, Star is a continuation of the first piece, Sunset, standing in antithesis with The wind. Driven by educational intentions, the writer did not want to end his fresco with the reign of the villainous Ștefăniță, but with the luminous image of Petru Rareș, a patriotic and brave ruler, the continuer of the political testament of Ștefan cel Mare. (…) The action (…) retells, in a biographical manner, the main events of Petru Rareș’s first reign. The beginning is Shakespearean. The guards at the Suceava castle recall the terrible events of Ștefan cel Mare’s recent reign. The entire act is focused on the motif of „recognition”. After 22 years of wandering, Petru Rareș, the natural son of Ștefan cel Mare, appears alone and unarmed in front of the Suceava castle to claim the vacant throne. But no one recognizes him anymore. The material evidence of his identity – Luca Arbore's note reinforced by Ștefan's signature, the mark on Rareș's right shoulder – fail to convince the boyars. The words of Dolca, an old woman with the gift of prophecy, will do so, but especially Oana's testimony, after Rareș evokes the moment, known only to them, of the revelation of their origin by Ștefan on his deathbed. Petru Rareș is proclaimed lord. In the second act, the action languishes. In the camp near Suceava, a few years later, the same soldiers recount incidents of arms and love from the campaigns against Ferdinand of Habsburg, the Poles and the Tatars (…). The action, more sustained, of the third act, focused on the motif of the battle, also takes place in the camp. One of the conflicts of the play, that between the prince, as the exponent of the country, and the external enemies, now reaches its climax. Symbolically, the two characters who dominate the action in this act are the prince and the valiant soldier Corbea, the first wounded, the second dead on the battlefield. Between them, the author introduced the boyar's daughter Genunea, fascinated by the greatness of Rareş, but regretting the death of Corbea, whose love was revealed to her too late. It is only in the fourth act that the traditional conflict, based on historical realities, unfolds between the prince, the defender of centralized power, of the integrity and independence of the country, and the great feudal boyars, driven by selfish interests. In the country's council, most of the boyars, led by the hetman Mihu, refuse to fight against the Ottoman invaders. To these, the prince, together with a small group of believers, opposes, in fiery words, a heroic and patriotic mentality, nourished by the example of his predecessors. (…) Finally, abandoned by the boyars and the country, Petru Rareș resumes his wanderings. With a small group of believers, he wanders through the mountains. After parting with his loved ones and the land of Moldavia, some fishermen, as the old woman Dolca had predicted, help him cross into Transylvania in disguise, where he finds refuge.” (Analytical dictionary of Romanian literary works, coord. Ion Pop, House of the Science Book, Cluj-Napoca, 2007).
Distribution:
Petru Rares: Liviu Martinus
The Baloş logo: John the Baptist
The Groza Screamer: George Pintilescu, Sandu Simionica
The scoundrel Mihu: Dorel Urlățeanu
Mateias the Fool: Marcel Segărceanu
The Albota Bedspread: Misu Vladimir
The Lycian rascal: Constantin Simonescu
The Sandru Backrest: Grig Schiţcu
Logofat Trotusan: Octavian Uleu
Pan Crasnes: Vasile Constantinescu, Corneliu Zdrehus
Hirea Cellar: Valentin Avrigeanu
Mogardici: Nicholas Thomas
Sandomierz: Ion Abrudan
Corbea: George Şimonca, Sandu Simionică, Vasile Constantinescu
Flint: John Martin
Doctor Shmil: Radu Reisel, Valeriu Grama
The first soldier: Teodor Buzea, Boris Petroff
Second soldier: Ilie Iliescu
Third soldier: Valeriu Grama, Eugen Tugulea
A home child: Ivan Sugar
A spy: Jean Sandulescu
Andrea: Cornel Cionca
Antonio: Gheorghe Chise
The first fisherman: Valeriu Grama, Eugen Tugulea
Second fisherman: Grig Schiţcu
Third fisherman: Sandu Simionica, Teodor Buzea, Boris Petroff
Fourth fisherman: Ilie Iliescu
Fifth fisherman: Jean Sandulescu
Elena Madam: Genoveva Matici, Alla Tautu
Oana: Lili Mihailescu Vladimir
Genuine: Vivi Popescu, Marilena Negru
Nastasia: Anca Miere Chirilă
Sweet: Maud Mary, Doina Urlăţeanu
Boyars and soldiers: Kálmán Battyán, Imre Rádai, István Kiss, László Balogh, Ernő Gáll, Doina Ioja
Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Sofica Spoiala
Sound: Olea Dorel
