after Sophocles and Euripides
Translation: George Fotino and Alexandru Miran

Stage adaptation and artistic direction: Mihai Măniuţiu
Sets: Cristian Rusu and Mihai Măniuţiu
Costumes: Cristian Rusu
Music: Iza Group from Maramureş
Premiere date: 14.02.2004

The show "Electra" brings back to the audience the heartbreaking story of the royal family of Mycenae, focusing on the figures of Electra and Orestes, who seek to avenge the vicious murder of their father, understanding that without purification, the life of the city cannot go on. The tragedy of the two brothers is told by themselves, but also by the chorus and the coryphaeus and especially by the mournful songs of the Maramures group. The encounter of the texts from the great Greek tragedy with Romanian folk music creates on stage a space of confluence of archaic mythologies. The violins, drums, guitar and voices are constituted as "replies" that are disturbingly in agreement with the texts of Sophocles and Euripides. Revenge takes place as a ritual: recognition, preparation for the murder, the murder itself, after which, although justice has been done, the pain does not fall apart. A world is forcefully evoked in which the unwritten laws of honor, justice, and humanity attract appropriate revenge, to restore the moral balance of the universe.

Distribution:

Electra:  Mariana Presecan
Orestes:  Marian Ralea
Clytemnestra:  Suzana Macovei
The old man:  Ion Tomorrow
Aegisthus:  Serban Borda
Pilades:  Doru Presecan
Chrysothemis:  Angela Tanko
Coryphea:  Elvira Platon Rîmbu
Corypheus:  Doru Firte
Choir:  Mariana Neagu, Corina Cernea, Mirela Nita Lupu, Geo Dinescu, Anca Sigmirean, Oana Rusu, Richard Balint, Sebastian Lupu, Alexandru Rusu, Andrian Locovei, Petre Ghimbasan, Pavel Sirghi, Marius Damian

Technical director: Ofelia Fîrte
Prompter: Iuliana Chelu
Lighting: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, Sandor Attila Nagy

by Eugèn Labiche
Translation: Alexandru Dabija

Artistic direction: Alexandru Dabija
Scenography: Vioara Bara
Premiere date: 13.12.2003

In the good tradition of French vaudeville, "Dust in the Eyes" is a play about the bourgeoisie and is inspired by contemporary morals. The play's action pits two not-so-wealthy families against each other, who, in their effort to marry their children off conveniently, pose as what they are not: richer, more cultured, better. Both the Ratinois family and the Malineau family adopt a game of pretense, carried ever further, until the situations become so absurd that the tone of the play approaches in places the theater of Eugen Ionescu. The "dust" thrown in the eyes is dissipated at the end, with the appearance of Uncle Robert, a rich but simple man, proud of the position he won through honest means and who will ensure the material stability of the two young lovers.

Distribution:

Mrs. Malineu:  Elvira Platon Rîmbu
Mrs. Ratinois:  Mariana Presecan
Emeline:  Anca Damacus
Sophie:  George Dinescu
Mr. Malineu:  Petre Ghimbasan
Mr. Ratinois:  Sebastian Wolf
Frederick:  Richard Balint
Uncle Robert:  Marius Damian
The boss:  Doru Presecan
The valet:  Ion Ruscut
The Upholsterer, the Valet:  Alexander Rusu

Technical director: Florin Popescu
Prompter: Florence Szabo
Lighting: Sorin Precup, Sandor Attila Nagy, Iosif Balogh
Sound: Sorin Domide

after Ion Creanga

Artistic direction and scenography: Gavril Borodan
Musical illustration: Gavril Borodan
Premiere date: 04.11.2003

The stage adaptation of the well-known story written by Ion Creangă depicts a typical country household, run in the most authoritarian manner by the mother-in-law. Widowed at an early age, Aftinia chooses wives for her sons on her own, with the sole purpose of using their labor. The third daughter-in-law, brought into the house by the youngest son without prior consultation, brings evil things to the mother-in-law. At her urging, the other two daughters-in-law, suddenly awakened to reality, take cruel revenge for all the evils they have endured, demonstrating, with the usual humor, that good conquers evil, even if the means used are not the most honest.

Distribution:

Aftinia:  Mariana Vasile, Mariana Neagu
Maranda:  Ileana Iurciuc
Anika:  Anca Sigmirean
Flower:  Corina Cernea
Agrippina:  Geo Dinescu
Constantine:  Pavel Sarghi
Culai:  Richard Balint
Gheorghita:  Andrian Locovei

Technical director: Ofelia Fîrte
Prompter: Florence Szabo
Lighting: Sorin Precup, Sandor Attila Nagy, Iosif Balogh
Sound: Sorin Domide

by Mihail Sebastian

Artistic director: Radu Nichifor
Scenography: Vioara Bara
Premiere date: April 19, 2003

The play "The Holiday Game" brings to the stage six ordinary characters, who spend their "month of freedom", that is, their vacation, at the Weber villa, located somewhere in the Ciuc Mountains. They embody types and characters of everyday life from anywhere and at any time: the young woman (Corina), the cowherd woman, at a critical age (Madame Vintilă), the teenager (Jeff), the small clerk (Bogoiu), the military man (Major). The peaceful, idyllic atmosphere of mutual tolerance is disturbed by the appearance of Ștefan Valeriu, who plays the "ferocious", the "mitocan", not greeting or answering when spoken to, doing everything to seem unpleasant. He also breaks the telephone and the radio, hides the sign of the guesthouse so that the bus will not stop, destroying all the gates of communication with the outside world. In this newly established framework, "lessons in laziness" are carried out, with a visible therapeutic purpose: tired of life and daily routine, man must follow an unusual spiritual detoxification cure, a game of reverie, a detachment from immediate circumstances. The heroes escape from the world of immediate conventions to another world, where mystery, oblivion, magic and dreams await them.

Distribution:

Mr. Bogoiu:  Ion Abrudan
Stefan Valeriu:   Dorin Presecan
Madame Vintila:   Elvira Platon Rîmbu
The Major:   Doru Firte
Corina:  Angela Tanko
Jeff:   Richard Balint
Agnes:  Codruta Ureche
A mechanic:   Petre Ghimbasan
A traveler:  George Voinese
His wife:   Mariana Vasile
Miss Weber:  Geo Dinescu

Technical director: Ofelia Fîrte
Prompter: Iuliana Chelu
Lights: Sorin Precup, Sándor Attila Nagy
Sound: Sorin Domide

by William Shakespeare
Translation: Dan Grigorescu

Artistic direction and musical illustration: Ion Sapdaru
Assistant director: Elvira Platon Rîmbu
Scenography: Mihai Pastramagiu
Costumes: Alina Dinca
Choreography: Victoria Bucun
Premiere date: March 1, 2003

Drawing on multiple sources of inspiration – Greco-Roman mythology, medieval legends and English folklore – Shakespeare's well-known creation "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a play whose theme, in words and deeds, is love. It is about blind, irrational, sincere and sometimes capricious love.

The marriage of Duke Theseus to Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, forms the framework of the play, the action of which begins and ends in the duke's palace. The conflict is triggered by an old Athenian law that gave citizens the power to choose suitable husbands for their daughters, and in case of disobedience, to even demand the death of the latter. Using this right, Egeus asks the Duke of Athens to sentence his daughter, Hermia, to death for her refusal to marry Demetrius, scion of a noble Athenian family. The initial situation depicts the mutual love between Hermia and Lysander, as well as the unrequited love of Demetrius for Hermia and of Helena (Hermia's friend) for Demetrius. In order to escape with their lives and save their love, Hermia and Lysander decide to flee through the forest to the house of an aunt where the ruthless law has no power. They are secretly followed by Helena and Demetrius, thus all entering the miraculous realm of fairies and goblins, where everything becomes possible and human laws no longer work according to the known measures. The goblin Puck and the king of the fairies, Oberon, set on mischief, will interfere in the relationships of the four young people, using a love elixir, but, not being exempt from mistakes either, they confuse their identities. After their intervention, both Lysander and Demetrius will love Helena madly, the girls will argue, and the men are ready to duel for Helena's love. But things do not have time to become serious, because a new supernatural intervention removes the charm from Lysander's eyes, who returns to his authentic love for Hermia. Demetrius, however, remains bewitched and forever in love with Helena; Understanding that Demetrius no longer wishes to marry his daughter, Egeus no longer opposes her union with her chosen one, Lysander, so that the wedding at the ducal palace is joined by two other weddings, which will take place on the very day of Hermia's death, the fairy kingdom participating in the general joy with parties and feasts.

In director Ion Sapdaru's staging, the magical world of Shakespeare's play is replaced by an urban labyrinth, complete with gas-masked soldiers, helicopters, ambulances, and wheelchairs. The tenderness and grace of the original play are sacrificed in favor of harshness and almost nightmarish nuances symptomatic of the everyday reality of the 2000s.

Distribution:

Theseus:   George Voinese
Aegean:  Ion Ruscut 
Lysander:  Serban Borda, Eugen Tugulea
Demetrius:  Andrian Locovei, Tiberiu Covaci 
Quince, Oberon:   Richard Balint 
Bottom:  Sebastian Wolf
Thin, A donkey:   Petre Ghimbasan 
Flute, A watchman:   Pavel Sarghi
Puck:  Alexander Rusu
Hippolyta:   Corina Cernea
Philostrata:  Angela Tanko
Titania:  Codruta Ureche
Helena:  Geo Dinescu, Mariana Neagu
Hermia:  Anca Sigmirean Rusu (debut), Mariana Vasile
Gossamer:  Zentania Lupşe
Vetch:  Linda Gyorgy
Mustard Seed:  Anca Turcut 
Butterfly:   Mihaela Gherdan 
Elves:  Alexandru Rois, Adrian Pintea, Csaba Kovacs, Adrian Gherdan, Gheorghe Iernea, Luca Alexandru, Florin Popescu

Technical director: Florin Popescu
Sufferer: Iuliana Chelu
Lighting: Sorin Precup, Iosif Balogh
Sound: Sorin Domide

Cabaret by Mircea Chirilă, in collaboration with the Deva State Theater

Artistic director: Daniel Vulcu
Scenography: Oana Cernea
Choreography: Anamaria Kiss
Premiere date: December 7, 2002

 „"With allusion, of course, to the well-known ... "English patient", the author of the script of this Cabaret, Mircea Chirilă (…), imagines a series of funny incidents, of course, related to the absolutely special fate of the „Romanian patient”. In fact, the Romanian, as the author sees him, is a perpetual patient, no matter in what field he works, „activates” or … is treated. The precious idea, as we all feel it, and the journalist feels it even more acutely, would be that, in a sick world like ours, we are all miserable patients. And if we get the idea to go to the hospital, we will show up at the hospital gate with a bag full of everything we would need there: medicines, plates, cutlery, cotton wool, syringes, diapers, etc. And, last but not least, the money destined for bribes, the tips that everyone expects, from the doorman to the doctors (the director's nice idea, by the way, was to bring in a doctor in a lab coat whose pockets are compartmentalized for dollars and lei, and even for euros, a brand-new pocket).

The author doesn't miss anything: health, customs, education, bribes, compromises, NATO, Roma, with the obligatory gypsies, alcohol, drugs, the stark poverty of pensioners (two elderly brothers take turns going out for a walk and waiting in line, having only one prosthesis, which they both wear), subsidized medicines, etc.

 (…) The show amuses and not only that: because – as political jokes used to do in the past – it makes you think: are these us, sir? These!” (Elisabeta Pop in „Teatrul azi”, no. 3-4-5/2003)

In distribution: 

Paula Chirila
Linda Gyorgy
Petre Ghimbasan
Daniel Vulcu
Adi Matioc
Alexander Rusu
Richard Balint
Serban Borda

Technical director: Ofelia Fîrte
Prompter: Iuliana Chelu
Lights: Sorin Precup, Sándor Attila Nagy
Sound: Cristian Segărceanu

by Maurice Maeterlinck
Translation: Anca Măniuţiu
National premiere

Stage version, artistic direction, lighting and sound effects: Mihai Măniuţiu
Assistant directors: Vava Ştefănescu, Mariana Presecan
Sets and costumes: Violin Bara
Set design assistant: Marinela Asăvoaie
Stage movement: Vava Ştefănescu
Premiere date: October 15, 2002

 „In the play seen on stage, a woman is in agony. She gave birth in agony and the mother’s death seems a necessary exchange for the child’s life. Those who watch over her – her daughters, her husband, her brother-in-law, her old blind father – still hope, still delude themselves. Treated symbolically, this everyday tragedy – according to the author’s formula – is, from the beginning, under the scenographic, easy-to-understand sign of the clock that measures the passage of hours and of the still-lit lamp, whose oscillating flame casts moving shadows on the walls. The expectation of healing is intertwined with the expectation of a relative, a nun who is due to come that evening. Through a series of strange signals, through the words of the characters who comment on them, Maeterlinck achieves an increasingly emphasized crescendo of anxiety. The expected relative is late, noises announce someone invisible, the wind whistles, the trees tremble, the dog hides, the swans seem frightened, the moonlight amplifies the anguish that is increasingly difficult to control. The feeling that, in the darkness of the garden, there is someone unexpected – the „uninvited guest” – increases the tension. The door does not close; outside, a scythe can be heard, strangely, cutting the grass… The acute sensitivity of the blind old man catches the signals before everyone else. He hears footsteps on the stairs, a sigh, a cry, somewhere close by. He feels how the unseen guest has sat down next to him… Everyone experiences a terrible pressure, fear suffocates them, but only „an icy silence” enters through the open window. It is the culminating moment of anxiety – probably, when the dying breath has ended and a ray with „strange glimmers” suddenly crosses the stained glass. The clock strikes midnight, "a very light noise, as if someone were getting up in a hurry" is accompanied by the increasingly loud scream of the child, silent until then. The lamp has gone out, but when there is light, only a breathless body will be visible, nothing else. Because this time too, "the rest is silence". (Ion Cazaban, in "Theatre Today")

Distribution:

Ursula:  Mariana Presecan
Grandfather:  Ion Tomorrow
Father:  Dorin Presecan
Uncle:  Serban Borda
Dying:  Paula Chirila
Daughters:  Angela Tanko, Corina Cernea, Codruta Ureche, Geo Dinescu, Mihaela Gherdan, Zentania Lupse

Technical director: Ofelia Fîrte
Prompter: Iuliana Chelu
Lighting: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, Sorin Domide
Sound effects: Cristian Segărceanu

by ILCaragiale

Artistic direction and musical illustration: Ion Sapdaru
Sets and costumes: Mihai Pastramagiu and Gelu Râşcă
Choreography: Victoria Bucun
Premiere date: September 7, 2002

Distribution:

Nae Girimea:  Daniel Vulcu
Iancu Pampon:  Doru Firte
Mache Razachescu:  Petre Ghimbasan
A note from perception:  Richard Balint
Iordache, journeyman at Girimea:  Alexander Rusu
An ipsistat:  Ion Ruscut
Didina Mazu:  Mariana Presecan
Mita Baston:  Elvira Platon-Râmbu
Police officers:  Serban Borda, Sebastian Lupu
A waiter:  George Voinese
A mask:  Corina Cernea
Other masks:  Georgiana Dinescu, Codruta Ureche, Anca Sigmirean, Andrian Locovei, Mihaela Gherdan, Zentania Lupşe, Linda György, Anca Turcut, Adrian Marian, Adrian Surducan

Technical director: Florin Popescu
Prompter: Florence Szabo
Lights: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, Sándor Attila Nagy
Sound: Cristian Segărceanu

Poetry recital by Mihai Eminescu
Performance date: June 11, 2002

Invited:

Valeria Seciu, Ion Caramitru, Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan and Aurelian Octav Popa (clarinet)

by Witold Gombrowicz
Translation: Olga Zaicik

Artistic director: Alina Hiristea
Assistant director: Elvira Platon Râmbu
Scenography: Adrian Buzas
Choreography: Victoria Bucun
Musical illustration: Alina Hiristea, Victoria Bucun, Florian Chelu
Premiere date: May 23, 2002

„"The action takes place at the Court, the ideal form, immutable in its structures, conventions, rituals, etiquette. Everything here takes place according to pre-established rules, from which no one can deviate. It becomes a collection of stereotypes; a mandatory code, they order the universe, making it intelligible but, above all, they prevent any surprise, dispense with any spontaneous individual reaction.

Brought to the Court on a whim of the Crown Prince, Ivona, the charmless, soft, apathetic, "stupid" girl, silent to the point of muteness, arouses confusion, then panic. Interestingly, Ivona does nothing, absolutely nothing that endangers the Court. But from the very moment she shows herself incapable of making a simple bow, an insignificant gesture, but how important as a symbol of adaptation, of shaping, of fitting in with others, she becomes a danger. Unable to enter the game, she is a foreign body, an unknown in a familiar world, the others being forced to redefine themselves in relation to her. Ivona in turn causes panic in the graphomaniac Queen, who fears she will be exposed, the King, whom she reminds of a crime he committed long ago, the ladies of the Court, who are not as perfect as they seem, the sly, cynical and scheming Chamberlain, and finally even the Prince. "Appearances must be saved," says the Queen.

... Suspected, spied on, terrorized, Ivona will finally be murdered at a feast given in honor of her engagement to Prince Philip, where she will drown herself with a fish bone.

… After her death (murder), etiquette is reinstated, the Great Gear once set in motion, everyone regains the certainty of personal security. The form continues to cover up the tricks, the lies, and even the murder. Disorder, the chaos have been removed. By suppressing Ivona, everything returns to normal.” (from the program booklet of the show – quoted from Olga Zaicik, afterword to vol. „Journal și Teatru”, Ed. Univers, 1988).

Distribution:

Ivona:  Mona Erhan
King Ignatius:  Doru Firte
Queen Margaret:  Elvira Platon Rîmbu
Prince Philip:  Serban Borda
Chamberlain:  Sebastian Lupu, Emil Sauciuc
Iza:  Simona Nica
Cyril:  Alexandru Rusu, Sebastian Lupu
Aunt I, Mrs. I:  Mariana Neagu
Aunt II, Mrs. II:  Ileana Iurciuc
Innocent:  Petre Ghimbasan
Courtiers:  Corina Cernea, Mirela Nita Lupu, Andrian Locovei, Pavel Sarghi, Igor Lungu, Sorin Ciofu, Alexandru Rusu, Zentania Lupse, Mihaela Gherdan, György Linda, Adrian Marian

Technical director: Florin Popescu
Prompter: Iuliana Chelu
Lights: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, Sándor Attila Nagy
Sound: Cristian Segărceanu

Comedy by Pierre Sauvil and Eric Assous
Translation: Zeno Fodor

Artistic direction and soundtrack: Ion Ciubotaru
Assistant director: Ion Abrudan
Scenography: Marinela Asăvoaie
Premiere date: April 25, 2002

An attractive play due to its contemporary character and its potential (and probable) association with real, well-known, though not agreed-upon, situations in current politics, "Vacation in Guadeloupe" presents the case of the French Minister of Agriculture, blackmailed by his party colleague in connection with a case of embezzlement of funds from the state budget for his own business. The blackmailer asks the minister to lend him his wife for a romantic vacation; otherwise, the file will reach the press and the chief prosecutor...

Distribution:

Minister Bertrand Gueraud:  Ion Abrudan
Deputy Antoine Bouladon:  Alexander Rusu
The minister's wife, Pauline:  Angela Tanko
Secretary Thibaut de Charmetant:  Sorin Ciofu
Press officer Agathe Mareuil:  Mariana Vasile
Journalist Nathalie Klein:  Corina Cernea
President's voice:  George Voinese
The voice of the TV announcer:  Mariana Presecan

Technical director: Ofelia Fîrte
Prompter: Florence Szabo
Lights: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, László Attila Oláh
Sound: Cristian Segărceanu

Comedy in two parts by Molière
Translation: Alexandru Kiriţescu

Artistic director: Radu Nichifor
Scenography: Vioara Bara
Set design assistant: Marinela Asăvoaie
Soundtrack: Florian Chelu, Mircea László Horváth
Choreography: Victoria Bucun
Premiere date: February 2002

Adopting the formula of "theater within a theater", the Oradea show is a collection of different theatrical styles, borrowing, one after another, elements from Greek tragedy, commedia dell'arte, popular theater, Elizabethan and French classicism, Asian and Chekhovian theater. Through these different eras and spaces, the story of the libertine seducer Dom Juan is woven, who sees beauty everywhere and does not want to do injustice to women by loving only one of them. Dona Elvira, Charlotte and Mathurine are just a few of the long line of women who believed in the sincerity of the charming Dom Juan's vows of love.

The cheerful, youthful tone of the beginning fades throughout the play, to give way to the strange, cynical and, in the end, even tragic. Act III presents the meeting between Dom Juan and a poor man who has withdrawn into the wilderness of the forest to pray. Dom Juan does not hesitate to address a challenge to the divinity and tries to pervert the poor man, offering him a gold ludovic in exchange for insults. The forest is also the space where Dom Juan's fate seems to change. Elvira's brothers, Dom Alonso and Dom Carlos, seek to avenge the shame experienced by their sister and give the adventurer one day's respite before punishing him with death.

The mixture of realism and the miraculous is particularly felt in Act IV, when, after the episode of the creditor Dimanche, the Statue of the Commander himself appears at Dom Juan's table, whom Dom Juan had mockingly invited to join him. Act V depicts Dom Juan's false repentance, who plays this comedy in front of Dom Alonso, remaining imperturbable, insensitive to all the signs of evil. Moving away from the original text, the Oradea production proposes, in a postmodernist style, a series of possible endings, the most striking of which highlights the probable transformation of Sganarelle into a future Dom Juan. Thus, the myth lives on.

Distribution:

Dom Juan:  Petre Panait
Sganarelle:  Richard Balint
Guzman:  Ileana Iurciuc
Don Carlos:  George Voinese
Don Alonso:  Alexander Rusu
Don Louis:  Marcel Popa
A beggar:  Serban Borda
Pierrot:  Sebastian Wolf
Dom Juan's servants:  Petre Ghimbasan, Andrian Locovei, Igor Lungu
Sunday:  Doru Firte
Harlequin:  Petre Ghimbasan
Dona Elvira:  Mariana Presecan
Charlotte:  Serban Borda
Mathurine:  Sorin Ciofu
The commander:  Dorin Presecan
Death:  Angela Tanko
Mimi:  Serban Borda, Pavel Sarghi
Nuns:  Linda György, Zentania Lupse, Mihaela Gherdan
Elvira's Suite:  Petre Ghimbasan, Andrian Locovei
Aunt Simonette:  Ion Ruscut
Simonetta's grandchildren:  Petre Ghimbasan, Andrian Locovei, Igor Lungu, Mihaela Gherdan, Corina Cernea, Linda György, Zentania Lupse
Don Alonso's Suite:  Petre Ghimbasan, Andrian Locovei, Igor Lungu
Choir:  Simona Nica, Mona Erhan, Corina Cernea, Andrian Locovei, Igor Lungu, Petre Ghimbăşan, Mihaela Gherdan, Linda György, Zentania Lupse
Commander's Suite:  Simona Nica, Mona Erhan, Corina Cernea, Adrian Marian, Adrian Surducan

Technical director: Ofelia Fîrte
Prompter: Iuliana Chelu
Lights: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, László Attila Oláh
Sound: Cristian Segărceanu

Butó dance theater show

Author of the text, direction, set design and performance: Emil Sauciuc
Premiere date: March 28, 2002

In the austere setting of the Studio Hall, actor Emil Sauciuc proposed to the Oradea cultural community an absolutely new show, based on the Asian model of butó dance. Using only a chair, a chain, a wig, a model of the globe, a soundtrack made up of musical pieces rarely found in mass culture and, above all, his own face and body, Emil Sauciuc transmitted, in a show of great metaphorical concentration, a disturbing message about man, about faith, about suffering and death, about the all-healing power of love.

Born in the Japanese space (the origins of the dance are attributed to the masters Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ono), butó dance does not require any school, no prior course. It seeks to rediscover the primordial roots of being in the depths of the body, understanding by this the maximum expression of our vital energy. Butó dance begins when the dancer is in a state of complete forgetfulness of identity, of his own culture, of the conventional way of using the body. Giving himself totally and living his impulses, he reaches absolute freedom, becoming a flow of pure energy, through which movement becomes creation.

Technical director: Florin Popescu
Lights: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, László Attila Oláh
Sound: Ioan Mariţan

by Gellu Naum

Artistic director: Ion Mainea
Scenography: Oana Cernea
Premiere date: March 8, 2002

Intended for young theatergoers, the play "Apolodor" reconstructs the adventures of the cute penguin-tenor, longing for his family, in search of whom he crosses the globe far and wide, on several continents, finding friends, but also enemies. Carried by a twin-engine plane, the "Meteor" fishing boat, an Eskimo's canoe, a submarine, and even a dolphin and a spaceship, Apolodor ends up, most often by mistake, through the most amazing and exotic lands of the world: the North Cape, the Behring Strait, Alaska, Africa, Madagascar, Tibet, India, the Pacific, the United States of America, the Caribbean Sea, South America, learning various trades and becoming, one after another, a porter, hunter, poet, fakir, sailor, cowboy. When he finally finds his family in Antarctica, his wandering spirit doesn't let him enjoy the reunion for too long: gripped by longing for his fellow choir members from the Bucharest circus, Apolodor returns to his post on the cooler, where he can be found even today.

Interpret:

Igor Lungu
Corina Cernea

Musical comedy based on "What It Means to Be Honest" by Oscar Wilde
Translation: Alexandru Alcalay and Sima Zamfir

Stage adaptation and artistic direction: Alina Hiristea
Lyrics: Eugen Mirea
Original music: Florian Chelu and Mircea László Horváth
Scenography: Nada Camelia Panait
Choreography: Victoria Bucun
Premiere date: November 22, 2001

The musical comedy "Good Evening, Mr. Wilde!", adapted from the play "What It Means to Be Honest" by Oscar Wilde, develops the parallel stories of two young English gentlemen. Jack Worthing, a foundling and adopted child by a nobleman, leads a double life, being known as a respectable and responsible young man on his Hertfordshire estate; for years, he claims to have a brother named Ernest in London, who leads a scandalous life, dedicated exclusively to pleasure. In reality, Ernest is just an alibi that allows Jack to go to the capital whenever he wants, probably to lead the same kind of life that he criticizes in the case of his imaginary brother.

His best friend, Algernon Montcrieff, charming, witty, and intelligent, has invented a friend named Bunbury, whose fluctuating health allows him to evade unpleasant or boring social obligations.

Things get complicated when the two are involved in intersecting love stories: Jack is in love with Gwendolen, Algernon's cousin, who in turn is in love with Cecily, Jack's ward. The game of false identities risks becoming dangerous, as both girls dream of marrying a man named Ernest (Honest), who inspires them with absolute trust. The only hope of the two suitors is the priest Chasuble, to whom they turn on the same day to be baptized Ernest. The appearance of Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen's mother, and Miss Prism, Cecily's governess, triggers a whole chain of revelations, blackmails and revelations, as a result of which it turns out that the two gentlemen are brothers and that nothing stands in the way of the happiness of the two couples. In the frenzy of finding his identity, of resolving the situation full of secrets and miraculous discoveries, Jack confesses that he understood "what it means to be Honest.".

Distribution:

Jack Worthing:  Petre Ghimbasan
Algernon Montcrieff:  Richard Balint
Chasuble, priest:  Ion Abrudan
Mary, Jack's maid:  Corina Cernea
Lane, Algernon's valet:  Alexander Rusu
Lady Bracknell, Algernon's aunt:  Mariana Presecan
Gwendolen Fairfax, daughter of Lady Bracknell:  Mirela Nita Lupu
Cecily Cardew, Jack's ward:  Angela Tanko
Miss Prism, Cecily's governess:  Ileana Iurciuc

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

Dramatization based on the fairy tale by Ion Creangă by Gheorghe Calamanciuc

Artistic director: Ion Ciubotaru
Assistant director: George Voinese
Sets: Ianis Vasilatos
Costumes: Iuliana Szabo, Marinela Asăvoaie
Premiere date: September 20, 2001

In "The Story of Harap-Alb", we discover a fantastic Bildungsroman and, indirectly, a lesson about honesty, courage, friendship and love, that is, about those elements that make up the very essence of human existence.

The youngest son of the King, the most capable of the brothers, is sent to the court of the Green Emperor to follow him to the throne, since he has no descendants. As a reward for his kind and generous heart, the king's son is advised by Saint Sunday, disguised as a needy old woman and beggar; the separation from home is done only with the father's consent, after the test of courage, which attests that the son is ready for the great journey. Leaving the space of parental worries and advice, the son enters a universe foreign to him, in which a symbolic wandering takes place. The forest appears as a labyrinthine space, as a capital test on the hero's journey. Here the forces of evil take shelter, whose encounter is imminent: The Spruce, wearing the mask of humility and benevolence, misleads the novice hero, not yet accustomed to distinguishing appearance from essence.

The descent into the well is equivalent to a symbolic death of the prince's son, who is reborn as a servant, thus entering a long test of humility, necessary in the process of forming an authentic leader, who must not be alien to the feelings of a subject. Once they arrive at the court of the Green Emperor, Spânul subjects him to difficult trials, intending to lose him and keep the throne of the kingdom for himself: to bring him salads from the bear's garden, the skin of an enchanted deer, beaten with gems, and the daughter of the Red Emperor. The trials to which Harap-Alb is subjected test not so much his warrior virtues, but especially his human side. For each of the trials, he finds reliable allies: the horse, the ants, the bees, and Holy Sunday.

For the maturation process to be complete, the hero must also initiate himself on a sentimental level; this is the symbolic function of the third attempt, meant to also develop the motive of friendship with the fabulous characters Ochilă, Setilă, Gerilă, Flămânzilă, Gerilă and Păsări-Lăți-Lungilă.

Upon returning to the Green Emperor's court, the girl reveals the truth and marries Harap-Alb, forming together the ideal couple, possessing the great human qualities that ensure their path to happiness.

Distribution:

The King:  Ion Ruscut
The eldest son, Gerilă:  Sebastian Wolf
The middle son, Ochilă:  Pavel Sarghi
The youngest son, Harap Alb:  Serban Borda
The Hunchbacked Lady, Holy Sunday:  Mona Erhan
The Bear, the Red Emperor's Faithful:  Igor Lungu
The Horse, Setila:  Alexander Rusu
Emperor Green:  George Voinese
A boyar:  Petre Ghimbasan
Deer:  Mirela Nita Lupu
Daughter I:  Simona Nica
Second daughter:  Mirela Nita Lupu
Third daughter:  Corina Cernea
The Red Emperor's Daughter:  Angela Tanko
Glutton:  Richard Balint
The tree:  Andrian Locovei
Long-Wide Birds:  Sorin Ciofu
Red Emperor:  Tiberiu Covaci
In other roles:  Anca Turcut, Zentania Lupse, Adrian Marian, Mirela Jurca

Technical director: Ofelia Fîrte
Prompter: Iuliana Chelu
Lights: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, László Attila Oláh
Sound: Sorin Domide

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

Comedy by Carlo Goldoni
Translation: Polixenia Karambi

Artistic director: Alina Hiristea
Scenography: Camelia Panait
Stage movement: Rodica Dunca
Soundtrack: Florian Chelu
Premiere date: May 17, 2001

Two pairs of lovers and a quick and resourceful but always hungry servant, for whom an extra master means an extra dinner. But what if one of the masters is a woman?

Related to commedia dell'arte through situations and plot, the play "The Servant of Two Masters" proposes better individualized and more diversified types, the most colorful of which is Truffaldino, the one who knots and unties the tangled threads of the action.

Two Venetian noblemen, Doctor Lombardo and the merchant Pantalone de Bisognosi, plan the marriage of their children, Clarice and Silvio. Before the wedding, however, Clarice's former fiancé appears, who was thought to have died in a fight. In reality, the fiancé is Beatrice who, in disguise, is desperately searching for her lover, Florindo Aretusi from Turin. Between the two fiancés, Truffaldino will deploy his ingenious stratagems. Throughout the 10 paintings, he manages to complete the tasks imposed by the two masters, being a master in the art of interpreting what is wanted and what is not wanted. The action, which unfolds at a dizzying pace, with lively dialogues, qui-pro-quos and lots of humor, culminates with a perfect happy ending, which foreshadows no less than three weddings, as each has (re)found their soul mate: Clarice-Silvio, Beatrice-Florindo, Truffaldino-Smeraldina.

Distribution:

Pants of Need:  George Voinese
Clarice:  Angela Tanko
Doctor Lombardo:  Ion Abrudan
Silvio:  Serban Borda, Sorin Ciofu
Beatrice:  Mona Erhan
Florindo Aretusi:  Romeo Romitan
Brighella:  Alexander Rusu
Emerald:  Mirela Nita Lupu
Truffaldino:  Richard Balint
Gondoliers:  Gheorghe Iernea, Alexandru Luca, Nicolae Segărceanu, Cristian Segărceanu, István Kovács, Adrian Pintea, Alexandru Rois

Technical director: Ofelia Fîrte
Prompter: Iuliana Chelu
Lights: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, László Attila Oláh
Sound: Sorin Domide