Comedy in two parts by Marc Gilbert Sauvajon
Translation: Angela Plati

Artistic direction:  Otto Szombati Gille
Assistant director: Tiberiu Covaci
Scenography: Alexandru Fazecaş
Premiere date: May 18, 1983
The show ran for three seasons, and was titled "Divorce English Style".

A lively and inventive boulevard comedy, "A Farewell Weekend" speaks with verve about love in marriage and... outside of it. After fifteen years of marriage, Hugh Preston, a successful comedian at the BBC, is faced with a seemingly hopeless situation: his wife, Liz, has fallen in love with John Brownlow and, what's more, is on the verge of running away with him on a romantic trip to Italy. Far from accepting the news and letting himself be crushed, Hugh imagines a stratagem through which all the plans of the newlyweds will be thwarted. With a suspicious gallantry, Hugh accepts the separation, and even offers to assume moral responsibility for the divorce, staging a flagrant crime with his secretary, Patricia Forsyth (Patty-Pat). To carry out the plan, he invites both Brownlow and Patricia to their home, an opportunity to fuel Liz's jealousy and, at the same time, discredits his competitor step by step, until his wife, who is obsessed with adventures, can no longer see him as anything but "a cuckoo". Hugh reveals all the details of the meeting, each knows everything about the other, or, as Liz says, "a love needs a little poetry to live... a little mystery... a little dream...". In the end, Liz understands that her new conquest cannot be compared to the husband she was ready to abandon, confusing the inherent difficulties of a marriage with a real, but non-existent crisis of affection. The ending brings a final comic reversal of situations: the secretary sets off for London with Brownlow, while the Prestons prepare to leave for Italy, on their seventh honeymoon.

Distribution:

Hugh Preston:  Ion Abrudan
Liz Preston:  Cristina Schiopu
Mrs. Gray:  Alla Tautu
John Brownlow:  Tiberiu Covaci
Patricia Forsyth:  Mariana Vasile

Technical director: Elena Varlam
Prompter: Florence Szabo
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Musical illustration and sound design: Dorel Olea