Comedy in three acts by VIPopa

Artistic director: Dan Alecsandrescu
Sets: Nagy Sándor
Premiere date: October 11, 1959

In a small town in the Moldavian province, three small merchants of different ethnicities live a quiet life: Take-Romanian, Ianke-Jewish and Cadîr-Turk. Each of them runs a modest shop on the outskirts of the town, covering the small needs of the inhabitants. The life of the three unfolds according to some seemingly ancestral rhythms, slowly, without major events, in a kind of pleasant torpor. It is based on a long-established friendship (approximately thirty years) and reconfirmed daily through meaningful gestures. This perfect balance is interrupted by the arrival of Ana (Ianke's daughter) and Ionel (Take's son), who were studying in Bucharest, at the Commercial Academy. They announce their decision to get married. The loving parents would accept the marriage if they were not afraid of the public, which would condemn a relationship between two different ethnicities. All their spiritual turmoil is finally resolved by Cadîr, who helps the young people open a shop "in association". The new shop will be called "In Jerusalem", because "there we are both Turkish and Jewish and Christian".

Distribution:

Taches:  Liviu Martinus
Yankee:  Misu Vladimir
Frame:  Dorel Urlăţeanu, Marcel Segarceanu
Elijah:  Constantin Simionescu
John:  George Pintilescu, Jean Sandulescu
Anna:  Stela Adamovici, Geta Iancu, Antoaneta Glodeanu
Week:  Stefania Popescu, Lili Mihăilescu, Anca Miere Chirilă

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Agy Segărceanu

Play in three acts by Emmanuel Roblès
Translation: Paul B. Marian

Artistic director: Radu Penciulescu
Scenography: Tody Constantinescu
Sound effects: engineer George Buican
Premiere date: June 28, 1959

The action of the play "Montserrat" takes place in Venezuela in 1812 and is inspired by the history of the civil war. Although the historical facts are presented accurately, according to the author, the story could have been set in Roman antiquity, in the Spain of Philip II, or in France during the Nazi occupation, in any era or space where there are fights for freedom. Montserrat, a young Spanish officer, sides with the Venezuelan revolutionaries, horrified by the atrocities committed by his compatriots against the locals. The Spanish intend to arrest Simon Bolivar, the leader of the revolutionaries; Montserrat warns him and Bolivar manages to escape. Discovering the betrayal, the Spanish imprison Montserrat. Before executing him, they try to make him tell them where Bolivar is hiding. Montserrat is faced with a tragic dilemma: confession or the life of six innocent hostages, captured at random in the city square. Each of them will try to convince him to confess, either by arousing his pity (the children who would be orphaned if they died), or by explaining to him that Bolivar, who is ill, could die anyway. In the end, Montserrat chooses silence and dies peacefully, knowing that the revolution can no longer be stopped.

Distribution:

Zuazola:  Grig Schiţcu
Morales:  Misu Vladimir, Jean Sandulescu
Antonanzas:  Gheorghe Vîlceanu, Liviu Mărtinuş, Andrei Bursaci
Left:  Ion Marinescu
Montserrat:  Ilie Iliescu
Father Coronil:  Dorel Urlăţeanu, Valeriu Grama
The potter:  Radu Reisel
The merchant:  Constantin Adamovici
Parent:  Cristina Tacoi, Sofica Albu
The actor:  Nicholas Thomas
Ricardo:  Eugen Nagy, Eugen Tugulea
Helen:  Vera Varzopov

Comedy in three acts by George Vasilescu, based on an idea by Ion Creangă

Artistic director: Dan Alecsandrescu
Decor: Nagy Sándor
Costumes: Eliza Cozma
Premiere date: May 30, 1959

In the play "The Old Woman's Eye", author George Vasilescu takes the narrative core from the fairy tale "The Mother-in-Law with Three Daughters" by Ion Creangă and depicts a typical country household, run in the most authoritarian manner by the mother-in-law. The emphasis is on the rapacious nature of the mother-in-law, whose only goal in life seems to be to increase her wealth. Widowed at an early age, Aftinia chooses wives for her sons on her own, with the sole purpose of using their labor. The youngest daughter-in-law, Agripina, brought into the house by the youngest son without prior consultation, synthesizes a multitude of positive traits specific to folk heroes: cleverness, a spirit of justice, diligence, sincerity. She reveals to the other two daughters-in-law the lie of the eye in the back of her head with which Aftinia claims to see them when they are idle. Thus, she breaks the established order and comes to the aid of her evil mother-in-law. She is punished for her wickedness and stinginess by being forced to give up her entire fortune, which was actually accumulated through the work and efforts of others.

Distribution:

Aftinia:  Stefania Popescu
Agrippina:  Stella Adamovici
Anika:  Natalia Lefescu
Flower:  Doina Ioja Vasiu
Constantine:  Valentin Avrigeanu
Culai:  Grig Schiţcu
George:  George V. George
Maranda:  Lili Mihailescu, Lucy Chevalier
Vasilica:  Ilie Iliescu
Stefanuca:  Gheorghe Vilceanu
Ileana:  Vera Varzopov

Prompter: Sofica Spoiala

Scenes from Country Life in Four Acts by A.P. Chekhov
Translation: R.Teculescu and V.Jianu

Artistic director: Dan Alecsandrescu
Scenography: Eliza Popescu
Premiere date: 1959, spring

Vanea lives with her niece, Sonia, on an estate in the country. Together, they not only manage the estate, but have also taken over some of the work that ensures the income of the estate and maintains the luxurious life of Sonia's father, university professor Serebreacov, the embodiment of cold and selfish intellectualism. When he, accompanied by his young and beautiful wife, Elena Andreevna, arrives at the estate, everyone's lives are turned upside down. Vanea and Mikhail Astrov, an idealistic doctor, fall in love with Elena, who rejects their advances. Sonia is in love with Astrov in turn, but without hope. Serebreacov's intention to sell the estate to live in the city arouses the anger of Vanea, who accuses him of selfishness and ungratefulness, even shooting him with a gun, without hurting him. Serebreacov and Elena leave, leaving Vanea and Sonia sad and alone, but adopting different attitudes in the face of unhappiness: while Vanea, taking stock of an empty life, is haunted by the thought of suicide, Sonia remains tonic and optimistic. The story of banal lives, of characters who pass by happiness...

Distribution:

Professor Serebryakov:  Dorel Urlățeanu
Elena Andreevna:  Vera Varzopov, Doina Urlățeanu
Sofia Alexandrovna (Sonia):  Cristina Tacoi, Liana Vilceanu
Voinitskaya:  Lili Mihailescu 
Uncle Vanya:  Constantin Adamovici, Nicolae Toma
Astrov:  Ion Marinescu
Telegin:  Radu Reisel
Marine:  Natalia Lefescu
The laborer:  Ilie Iliescu
The action takes place at Serebrekov's mansion.

Prompter: Sofica Spoiala

Comedy in three acts and an epilogue by Virgil Stoenescu and Octavian Sava

Artistic director: Ion Marinescu
Decor: Gheorghe Oriold
Costumes: Eliza Popescu
Premiere date: March 7, 1959

The play "Nota zero la portare" brings to the fore a familiar environment, often encountered in dramatic literature, but which always retains its note of tenderness, candor and exaltation: high school. It presents school pranks and pranks, the shyness of first confessions, the pain of real defeats and the persistent concern for one's own future.

Beyond these, the action of the play, set in the first months after August 23, 1944, reflects some of the tension of those days. The arrival of a new Utecist colleague disrupts old relationships and customs. In its entirety, the play is imbued with revolutionary romanticism and contains, as director Valeriu Moisescu notes, a fragment of the struggle of communists and Utecists in school against reaction.

Distribution:

Stefan Vardia:  George Pintilescu, Ilie Iliescu
Misu Felecan:  Jean Sandulescu
Ionas Oproiu:  John the Baptist
Nicu Dumitran:  Eugen Nagy, Marcel Segărceanu
Miron Raducanu:   Gheorghe V. Gheorghe, Grig Schitcu
Daniel Popovici:  Valeriu Grama
Ion Pascu:  Andrei Bursaci, Ion Marinescu
Mariana Plesoianu:  Cristina Tacoi, Natalia Lefescu, Simona Constantinescu
Dana Paunescu:  Doina Ioja Vasiu
Simona Munteanu:  Stella Adamovici
Matthew Butnaru:  Eugen Tugulea
Zurascu:  Zaharia Volbea, Ricardo Colberti
Anton Plesoianu: Nicolae Toma, Valentin Avrigeanu
Santa Claus:  Constantin Simionescu
First student:  Elena Varlam
Second student:  Pia Gheorghe
First student:  Constantin Tomulescu
Second student:  Teodor Rosianu
Third student:  Victor Culici

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Agy Segărceanu
Chief electrician: Ludovic Veres

Play in three acts (4 scenes) by Al.Mirodan

Artistic director: Dan Alecsandrescu
Assistant director: Jean Săndulescu
Decor: Nagy Sándor
Costumes: Eliza Popescu
Premiere date: February 7, 1959

Tributary to the era in which it was written (1953), but enjoying notable success in the 1960s, the play "Journalists" represents a tribute to the communist youth press. At the center of the play is Cerchez, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Viața tineretului". At only 27 years old, Cerchez has the wisdom of a man who has lived through life. He will defend the anonymous Ioan Gheorghe "a kind of "generic Romanian", like Liviu Rebreanu, against the traffickers of principles from the communist party" (Mircea Ghițulescu in "Contemporary Romanian Dramatists"). Among the attributes of the play, reported by the press of the time, we mention the force that can set dormant consciences in motion and the purity of the truths it proclaims. The heroes of the play are passionate young people, capable of great gestures and unlimited sacrifices. They are not yet established figures, but they stand out through their deeds, through their authentic life in society, through the fact that they have something to say and act without hesitation.

Distribution:

Circassian:  Ion Marinescu
Tomovic:  Ilie Iliescu
Brandus:  Eugen Nagy, George Pintilescu
Marcela:  Cristina Tacoi
Romeo Ionescu:  Constantin Adamovici
Toth:  Nicolae Toma, Eugen Tugulea
Lion:  Dorel Urlăţeanu, Gheorghe V. Gheorghe
Misu Rosenblum:  Valeriu Grama
Guru:  Constantin Simionescu
Viisoru:  Jean Sandulescu
Peter:  Eugen Tugulea, Nicolae Toma
Desire:  Doina Urlățeanu
Pamphilus:  Zaharia Volbea, Misu Vladimir
Nea Gogu:  Grig Schiţcu
The corrector:  Valentin Avrigeanu
Sevast:  Liana Vilceanu

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Sofica Spoiala

Comedy in four acts by Nikolai Pogodin
Translation: Al.Philippide and G.Ciocler

Artistic direction and sets: Radu Penciulescu
Assistant director: Zeno Fodor
Costumes: Eliza Popescu
Music illustration: Paul Urmuzescu
Premiere date: January 10, 1959

Marked by a strong proletarian and propagandist component, the play "The Aristocrats" by Nikolai Pogodin develops an action set on the construction site of the "Stalin" Canal, which connects the White Sea to the Baltic Sea. Built between 1931 and 1933 using forced labor from political prisoners, the Canal was presented as a successful model of the first Soviet five-year plan. The goal of the project was both the actual construction and the reform and re-education of people through labor. This is also the theme of Pogodin's play; his "aristocrats" are bandits, thieves, embezzlers, saboteurs, counter-revolutionaries, prostitutes, religious fanatics. Gromov, the commander of the labor camp where they are held, is constantly searching for the best methods to get closer to their souls. The stakes from which the play starts are the following: if labor created man, it will succeed in transforming him. Confidence in human potential appears unlimited, demonstrating that the phrase "Man - the most precious capital" is not an empty phrase.

Distribution:

The boss:  Zacharias Volbea
The educator:  Eugen Tugulea
Gromov:  Constantin Adamovici
Sadovsky:  Misu Vladimir
An engineer:  Constantin Simionescu
Botkin:  Dorel Urlățeanu
Kostea the captain:  Ion Marinescu
Sonia:  Vera Varzopov
Lemon:  Jean Sandulescu
Lady Niurka:  Lucy Chevalier
Beret:  George V. George
Alyosha:  Marcel Segărceanu
The gypsy:  Radu Reisel
Tattooed:  Lili Mihailescu
Nina:  Cristina Tacoi
Tamara:  Stella Adamovici
Caracuda:  Grig Schiţcu
Petin:  Ilie Iliescu
Pijov:  Eugen Nagy
Soul:  Constantin Simionescu
Priest Bartholomew:  John the Baptist
The Deacon:  Nicholas Thomas
Matahala:  John the Baptist
Chiaburoaica:  Doina Urlățeanu
Commander:  Valentin Avrigeanu
The doctor:  Zacharias Volbea
Sadovsky's mother:  Stefania Popescu
Margarita Ivanovna:  Natalia Lefescu
A ship captain:  Nicholas Thomas
The price:  Andrei Bursaci
The Intendant:  Valeriu Grama
The artist:  Eugen Nagy
Team leader:  Eugen Tugulea
The nurse:  Ilie Iliescu
The chef:  Dan Alecsandrescu
A soldier:  Zeno Fodor
The Registrar and the Innkeeper:  Liana Vilceanu  
A short man:  Valeriu Grama
A janitor:  Grig Schiţcu
The man with glasses:  Marcel Segărceanu
A maid:  Doina Ioja Vasiu

Technical director: Veronica Colberti
Prompter: Cornelia Brezeanu/Agy Segărceanu
Lights: Ludovic Veres

by ILCaragiale

Artistic direction: Dorel Urlățeanu and Radu Penciulescu
Scenography: Eliza Popescu
Musical direction: Mihai Vasilescu
Choreography: Ilona Tóth Kovács
Premiere date: December 31, 1958

The ten most famous sketches of the acclaimed Romanian writer IL Caragiale captured the ridiculousness, sometimes even the absurdity, of human relationships and the events that people go through with or without their will. The emphasis is on the anecdote, on the moment, and not on slipping into the story. “Caragiale’s moments and sketches are also lightning-fast snapshots or moments of life, that is, ephemeris fixed on the retina of eternity, but also situations or hypostases intentionally cut out for their exemplarity with regard to certain phases or stages of existence.” (Ion Vartic – “Analytical Dictionary of Romanian Literary Works”)

As projections of family and public life, Caragiale's sketches contain a great amount of historical truth, rendered by Oradea actors in this series of artistic miniatures, always current.

Union Garden
Garden Patron:  John the Baptist
Orchestra conductor:  Valeriu Grama
Idioms:  Jean Sandulescu
Miss Fanelly:  Lucy Chevalier
Aristizza Romanescu:  Doina Ioja Vasiu
Waiters:  Grig Schitcu, Ilie Iliescu
A servant boy:  Stella Adamovici
French cancan:  Ilona Tóth Kovács, Vera Varzopov, Rodica Schuller, Doina Ioja Vasiu, Minodora Buda, Ibolya Balog, Aranka Tóth Kovács

Justice
County:  Constantin Simionescu
Leanca the widow:  Stefania Popescu
The defendant:  Jean Sandulescu

Charged atmosphere
John:  Ion Marinescu
A customer:  George V. George
Other customer:  Valentin Avrigeanu
A student:  Zacharias Volbea
Another student:   Radu Reisel, Stela Adamovici

High heat
Mr:  John the Baptist
Virgo:  Grig Schiţcu
The boy:  Stella Adamovici
Grandma:  Doina Ioja Vasiu
Sergeant:  Valeriu Grama

Article 214
Tarsus:  Stefania Popescu
Lae:  Valeriu Grama
The lawyer:  Ilie Iliescu
Virgo:  Radu Reisel
Popa Petcu:  George V. George
The acrimony:  Cristina Tacoi

Amici
Lackey:   Dorel Urlățeanu
Make:  Misu Vladimir
Taches:  Valentin Avrigeanu

Five o'clock
John:  Ion Marinescu
Eat:  Lili Mihailescu
Tincuţa:  Doina Urlățeanu
The bribe:  Lucy Chevalier
Virgo:  John the Baptist
Pink:  Doina Ioja Vasiu
Lefterescu:  Valentin Avrigeanu

cf.
Thread:  Zacharias Volbea
Ghita:  Valentin Avrigeanu
Customer:  Constantin Simionescu

case
John:   Ion Marinescu
Nope:  Marcel Segărceanu

Romanian justice
County:  Constantin Simionescu
Calliope:  Liana Vilceanu
The defendant:  Zacharias Volbea
The lawyer:  Ilie Iliescu

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Agy Segărceanu

THERE WAS LIGHT by N.Damaschin
Artistic direction: Valeriu Grama
Scenography: Gheorghe Oriold

The action of the play "Sa făcut lumină", set during the collectivization period, captures the turmoil of the peasants confronted with this phenomenon that upsets their familiar rhythm of life. Stan Roman and Maria initially avoid joining the collective, for fear of losing their land and hard-earned wealth. Firu, although a declared collectivist, sabotages the interests of the household by intentionally giving bad advice on feeding the cows, planting vineyards and orchards. Although he seems to be President Vasile's right-hand man, he also secretly convinces the villagers not to join the collective farm.

When Stan Roman finally decides to apply for entry into the GAC, Firu stages a crime to prevent his entry, which other villagers would have followed as an example. Several sacks of wheat stolen from the collective farm warehouse are found in Stan's yard, and Stan is accused of ostensibly wanting to increase his wealth through illegitimate means. Through successive confessions, the real perpetrator, Firu, is unmasked, things become clear, and the future looks bright and full of promise.

In distribution:
Eugen Tugulea
Doina Ioja Vasiu
Valentin Avrigeanu
Liana Vilceanu
Gheorghe Vilceanu
Stella Adamovici
Constantin Simionescu
Eugen Nagy
Stefania Popescu

PROPOSAL  by A.P. Chekhov
Artistic director: Dorel Urlăţeanu
Scenography: Gheorghe Oriold

In the short play "A Marriage Proposal", AP Chekhov captures the laudable initiative of Ivan Vasilievich Lomov, who wishes to marry his neighbor's daughter, Natalia Stepanovna.

But, far from the romance and harmony that should govern such a unique moment, the two potential grooms argue fiercely for ridiculous reasons. The clash of their strong personalities, the suitor's bouts of hypochondria, the bride's father's confusion and his desperate attempts to smooth over the two young men's outbursts create a delicious situation comedy, and under these circumstances, the ending is at least surprising...

In distribution:
George V. George
Grig Schiţcu
Lucy Chevalier

PETITION by ILCaragiale

“Caragiale’s character is not a loner. He needs to talk to someone and be talked to. (…) Caragiale’s world is born and dies talking,” notes critic Marin Bucur in vol. “IL Caragiale. The World of Opera” (Ed. Paralela 45, 2001). From this insatiability of speech, the sketch “Petition” is born, which includes the totally sterile dialogue with absurd accents between the clerk at the office of the general registry of the Monopolies Authority and a gentleman who came right at the opening of the program to request certain information. What information is being asked for or for whom it is being requested seem to be secondary aspects for the anonymous client. The essential thing for him is to complain about the unbearable heat, to ask for and drink water, and to prolong his visit until the clerk, on the verge of exasperation, throws him out of the office, sending him to look for his petition “at the pensions”, where he should have gone from the beginning.

In distribution:
John the Baptist
Jean Sandulescu
Grig Schiţcu

Studio show
Lyrics by: Louis Aragon, Maria Banuş, Che Yen, Evghenii Dolmatovski, Paul Eluard, Pierre Gamara, Nazim Hikmet, Ştefan Iureş, Eugen Jebeleanu, Luis Munoz Marin, Pablo Neruda, Jerzy Putrament, Rabemananjara, Alexei Surkov, Margaret Walker

Artistic director: Radu Penciulescu
Premiere date: April 26, 1959

Interpret:

Natalia Lefescu
Eugen Tugulea
Ilie Iliescu
Ion Marinescu
Valeriu Grama
Constantin Adamovici
Eugen Nagy
Radu Reisel
Vera Varzopov
Jean Sandulescu
Nicholas Thomas

Comedy in three acts by Aurel Baranga

Artistic direction: Valeriu Grama
Decor: Radu Penciulescu
Costumes: Eliza Popescu
Premiere date: September 24, 1958

The play "The Mad Lamb" by Aurel Baranga addresses a topical subject for the era in which it was written: bureaucracy and the danger that this obstacle represents in the way of the new, in the way of the initiatives of working people. The technical office of a large enterprise - the place where the action takes place - houses several bureaucrats who make life difficult for innovators. Their representatives are the head of the technical office, Toma Dumitrescu, the technical referent, Bontaş, the chief engineer Cristescu and others. At the antipode of these are the luminous figures of the play: the worker Spiridon Biserică, the secretary of the party organization, Dumitru Ionescu-Perjoiu and the cartoonist Maria, who are able to evaluate the former at their true value.

Distribution:

Spyridon Church:  Marcel Segărceanu
Mitica Ionescu:  Zaharia Volbea, Constantin Adamovici
Radu Cristescu:  Dorel Urlățeanu
Mircea Cavafu:  Ion Marinescu
Toma Dumitrescu:  Constantin Simionescu
Vasile Bontas:  John the Baptist
Maria Pricop:  Natalia Lefescu
Margaret Petrescu:  Doina Ioja Vasiu
Dr. Vintilă Bratu:  Radu Reisel
Tache Imireanu:  George V. George
Nicolae Gamălie:  Eugen Tugulea
Haralamb Dumitru:  Ilie Iliescu
Cociaşu Vintila:  Eugen Nagy
First official:  Grig Schiţcu
Second official:  Nicholas Thomas
Third official:  Valeriu Grama

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Agy Segărceanu
Chief electrician: Vasile Zigre

by Jean Anouilh
Translation: Valentin Lipatti

Artistic director: Radu Penciulescu and Valeriu Grama
Scenography: Tody Constantinescu
Music illustration: Paul Urmuzescu
Premiere date: June 2, 1958

Jean Anouilh's "The Lark" retells the essential episodes of the life of Joan of Arc, a well-known story: at a difficult moment in history, when France is invaded by English troops, Joan of Arc, a simple girl from the people, revives the soldiers, recaptures the city of Orléans, defeats the enemies at Patay and crowns Charles VII in the cathedral of Reims. She then tries to recapture Paris, but is betrayed and abandoned by the king to whom she had restored power. In the end, Joan is sold to the English who stage a religious trial for her and burn her alive at the stake, under the pretext of heresy and infidelity, in a square in Rouen (1431).

The French playwright faithfully follows the stages of Joan's short but brilliant life and, to present them, resorts to an ingenious formula: he reconstructs the trial of Rouen, in which Joan recounts her life and deeds retrospectively, as in a film. The play alternates between scenes of accusation in the courtroom of Rouen (accusations brought by Bishop Cauchon, the Inquisitor, the Earl of Warwick and others) and retrospective scenes from Joan's life. As Joan unfolds her autobiography, the characters who participated in the most significant episodes appear. From Joan's relations with the judges, from arguments and counterarguments, the ideological content of the play is constructed.

Distribution:

Joanna:  Eliza Plopeanu
Cauchon:  Gheorghe Popa Mijea, Constantin Adamovici
The Inquisitor:  Ion Marinescu
The promoter:  Nicholas Thomas
Ladren:  Valeriu Grama
Wanwick:  Ilie Iliescu
Carol:  Radu Reisel
Queen Yolanda:  Lili Mihailescu
The little queen:  Liana Vilceanu
Agnes:  Lucy Chevalier
The Archbishop:  Dorel Urlățeanu
At Tremonille:  Misu Vladimir
Beaudincourt:  Ricardo Colberti, Ioan Pater
For Hire:  Zacharias Volbea
Father:  Eugen Tugulea
Parent:  Stefania Popescu
Brother:  Grig Schiţcu
The executioner:  John Pater, George Pintilescu
Soldier I:  George Pintilescu, Eugen Nagy
The guard:  Dan Alecsandrescu
Page:  George V. George

Technical director: Veronica Colberti
Prompter: Cornelia Brezeanu
Lighting: Vasile Zigre, Ludovic Veres

AWARDS:
– Female Performance Award: Eliza Plopeanu, at the National Theater Festival in Bucharest, 1958

Bitter comedy in three acts by G.M.Zamfirescu

Artistic director: Dan Alecsandrescu
Sets: Radu Penciulescu
Costumes: Eliza Popescu
Premiere date: April 25, 1958

Subtitled "bitter comedy", the play "Ion Anapoda" presents a perennial theme: the search for happiness. Each character in the play fights to achieve this ideal through their own means, characteristic of their way of being. Stăvăroaia searches for it in the memories of her past, always invoking the name of her late husband, a major of reds; Mioara and Valter seek happiness through success. Ion and Frosa are exceptions in this landscape. Ion is a clerk at a bank in Bucharest; for the others, he is an "anapoda" man, who does not use deceptions and subtleties and who does not even have a name: he is "he". Frosa is a maid in the house of the widow Străvăroaia and is forced by her masters and others to wear a mask, not to be herself. Through Ion, she begins to understand herself and to seek beauty. Together, the two find the path to achieving happiness through love, honor, and humanity.

Distribution:

Stavaroaia:  Lili Mihailescu
Little girl:  Cristina Tacoi
Frog:  Natalia Lefescu
Ion:  Marcel Segărceanu
Walter:  Andrei Bursaci, Valentin Avrigeanu
Aristotle:  Constantin Simionescu 
Icu Danicel:  Al.Mitea, Gheorghe V. Gheorghe

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Agy Segărceanu/Cornelia Brezeanu

Dramatic novel in two parts, ten paintings by Mircea Ştefănescu

Artistic director: Dan Alecsandrescu
Decor: Vasile Roman
Costumes: Eliza Popescu
Premiere date: March 12, 1958

As Valentin Silvestru notes, the play "There, Far Away" "disintegrates the myth of adventure and imposes the idea of the unfulfillment of the artist who breaks away from his native soil" ("Contemporanul" no. 27, July 5, 1957).

In the play, two mentalities collide: one of the group that, together with Barbu, understands the artist's (including social) mission, and that of the misfits, the uprooted represented by Pompei, Silviu, and Le Pernod.

The writer Silviu believes that, for his complete artistic development, he must go "there, far away", to a metropolis of the arts, initially embodied by Bucharest, where he hopes to find an audience that will adequately receive his writings. In Bucharest, he makes friends, integrates into the local artistic world, but feels that this glory is also provincial. In order to give the full measure of his talent, he decides to go to Paris. Success is not long in coming: the book sells, but, at the moment he fulfills himself as an artist, the hero's nostalgia inverts its object. In the novel, Silviu praises the province, the dear people he left behind, the world he hoped to return to during the entire time he was away from it. Proof that talent and value are fully realized here, close by, next to your own.

Distribution:

Silvio:  Eugen Nagy
John:  Gheorghe Popa MijeA
Pompeii:  Zacharias Volbea
Beard:  Nicholas Thomas
Violet:  Doina Urlăţeanu, Lucy Chevalier
Jig:   George V. George
Joanna:  Cristina Tacoi
Mr. Angel:  Constantin Simionescu
The Pernod:  Ricardo Colbert
Grove:  Jean Sandulescu

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Cornelia Brezeanu
Lighting: Vasile Zigre, Ludovic Veres

Magic in Verse (prologue and seven paintings) by Valentin Avrigeanu
Absolute premiere

Artistic director: Radu Penciulescu
Decor: Gheorghe Oriold and Eliza Popescu
Costumes: Eliza Popescu
Incidental music: Mihai Vasilescu
Conductor: Zoltán Matolcsi
Choreography: Ilona Tóth Kovács
Premiere date: February 2, 1958

A show aimed primarily at young children, but also at those who, as adults, sought to relive the emotions of childhood, "The Tale of the Golden Forest" depicted, through picturesque characters, real or allegorical, the eternal struggle between Good and Evil. The message of the play is concisely formulated by Zamfir:

"Oh! If only I could find the seed of "Good" to plant
Cultivate in the soul and from it, let me see how the fruits grow
And in turn they bear fruit... Humanity under the sun
They would love honestly, from the heart..."

Distribution:

Grandfather:  Constantin Simionescu
Grandmother:  Rodica Schuller
Sapphire:  George Pintilescu
Catalina:  Cristina Tacoi
The master:  John the Baptist
Oak:  Nicholas Thomas
The Witch:  George V. George
Theft:  Liana Vilceanu 
Laziness:  Doina Ioja Vasiu
Lie:  Doina Urlățeanu
Scattered stock:  Eugen Tugulea
The young man:  Ilie Iliescu
Theodora:  Natalia Lefescu
Catherine:  Lili Mihailescu
Good:  Grig Schiţcu
Sultana:  Elena Toma, Eliza Plopeanu, Stela Adamovici
Ilinca:  Rodica Schuller
Stan:  Al. Mitea, Valeriu Grama
Elijah:  Eugen Nagy, Valentin Avrigeanu

Technical direction: Dalma Simionescu and Veronica Colberti
Prompter: Agy Segărceanu
Lighting: Vasile Zigre, Ludovic Veress

Variety show in two acts (20 scenes)
Screenplay: Valentin Avrigeanu, Ricardo Colberti, Ioan Pater, Dorel Urlățeanu

Artistic direction and scenography: Dorel Urlăţeanu and Ricardo Colberti
Costumes: Eliza Popescu
Music by: Ion Vasilescu, H.Mălineanu, Elly Roman, T.Sibiceanu, Mihai Vasilescu
Musical direction: Mihai Vasilescu
Premiere date: December 31, 1957

"Sorcova vesela – cheerful New Year's Eve program" brought together various entertainment moments intended for the public who chose to spend the New Year's Eve at the Theater: skits ("In the night of New Year", "Egalitate", "Pronosport", "Spațiul locativ", "Bețivii"), musical moments ("Cine?", "Bacia mi", "Album muzical", "Bucurie", "Trec anii", "O, mămă", "1957 – pe notes", "Africa"), choreographic moments ("Micul John") and even illusionism and sleight of hand ("Mai tare ca Josefini").

Interpreters:

Lucy Chevalier
Ricardo Colbert
George V. George
Sanda Ghiculescu Pena
Al.Mitea
Eugen Nagy
John the Baptist
George Pintilescu
Eliza Plopeanu
Jean Sandulescu
Grig Schiţcu
Marcel Segărceanu
Rodica Schuller
Elena Toma
Nicholas Thomas
Doina Ioja Vasiu

Technical director: Veronica Colberti
Prompter: Agy Segărceanu
Lighting effects: Ludovic Veress, Vasile Zigre

Play in four acts by Leonid Leonov
Translation: Al. Kiriţescu and Ada Steinberg

Artistic director: Radu Penciulescu
Assistant director: Valeriu Grama
Musical illustration: Mihai Vasilescu
Scenography: Valeriu Grama    
Premiere date: November 7, 1957

In a small Soviet town, Dr. Talanov's house is occupied by the German army in the winter of 1941-1942. While the doctor's daughter is involved in the fight against the Allies, Talanov's only son, Feodor, returns home after three years in prison. As his unexpected reappearance coincides with the German invasion, his fellow citizens receive him with somewhat justified distrust. He is rehabilitated when he assumes the false identity of Kolesnikov, the leader of a group of partisans. Feodor is hanged, but his sacrifice allows the real Kolesnikov to escape, while everything portends an imminent reversal of the situation on the front in favor of the Russians.

Distribution:

Talanov:  Gheorghe Popa Mijea
Anna Nikolaevna:  Lili Mihailescu
Theodore:  Andrei Bursaci, Ilie Iliescu
Olga:  Natalia Lefescu
Demighievna:  Stefania Popescu
Anishka:  Eliza Plopeanu
Kolesnikov:  Zacharias Volbea
Fainin:  Dorel Urlățeanu
Kokorishkin:  Radu Reisel, Al. Mitea
Egorov:  George Pintilescu
Tatarov:  Eugen Tugulea
Masalski:  Valentin Avrigeanu
Wibbel:  Misu Vladimir
Spurs:  Ricardo Colbert
Kuntz:  Jean Sandulescu
The old man:  Constantin Simionescu
Prokofiev:  Elena Toma 
A young man:  George V. George
A madman:  Valeriu Grama

Technical director: Veronica Colberti
Prompter: Cornelia Brezeanu

Comedy in three acts by I.Grinevici and N.Pantelimon

Artistic director: Dan Alecsandrescu
Decor: Gheorghe Oriold
Costumes: Eliza Popescu
Premiere date: October 12, 1957

Subtitled "Unbelievable Incident of Our Times", the comedy "The Mask of Neptune" proposes a soulful analysis of a group of characters grouped around the writer Mircea Mînzu, who "packed his suitcases and went to the sea, on vacation, full of projects and dreams. He will rest, he will observe people in the new conditions of the vacation, he will write...

But at sea, the administrator of the "Neptune" villa - the villa where he is to be hosted - suddenly shatters his dreams. The villa was organized in such a way that those who come to rest will not lose even a moment, at any price, even a dram of their civil-administrative status. A minister hosted with honors and amenities will preside. A chief of staff will find the ground smoothed for collecting the "best references", the secretary of another minister will be bored in one of the most beautiful rooms of the villa, isolated from everyone and everything, as befits a "significant personage". As for the others - they will serve as lightning rods for the "principleship" of the skillful hierarchical string puller who is the villa administrator.

„"Why all this?" - our writer asks. Don't people have the right, at least on vacation, to give up the "hierarchical mask"? To enjoy each other's company without constraints, simply, truly? To feel that these free days refresh them, rejuvenate them, give them the opportunity to experience unspoken thoughts, dreams that - maybe, who knows - come true on vacation?

But here our writer is given the opportunity to turn his dreams into reality: a favorable combination of circumstances makes him take the place of the villa's administrator. "Anointed" by circumstances as administrator, Mircea Mînzu immediately puts his plan into practice. With the complicity of those who come – who are each "processed" in secret – Mircea Mînzu places a new mask on each person's face: the mask of Neptune."„

(From "Scena și Ecranul" no. 14, August 1957, excerpt published in the show's program booklet)

Distribution:

The administrator:  Marcel Segărceanu, Gheorghe V. Gheorghe
Mimi Butnaru:  Elena Toma, Sanda Ghiculescu Pană, Cristian Tacoi
Mircea Manzu:  Jean Sandulescu
Marine:  Rodica Schuller, Eliza Plopeanu
Mihai Drumaru:  Dorel Urlățeanu
Nichifor Bicescu:  Misu Vladimir
Marga Nicolau:  Doina Urlățeanu
Didona Vasilescu:  Doina Ioja Vasiu
Graţiela Banita:  Lili Mihailescu
Stroe Popa:  Ricardo Colbert
Gigel Luca:  Andrei Bursaci
Miron Vizante:  Ion Tifor, George Pintilescu
The unknown:  Eugen Tugulea

Technical director: Veronica Colberti
Prompter: Agy Segărceanu