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