Drama in three acts by IDSîrbu

Artistic direction:  Otto Szombati Gille
Assistant director: Gheorghe Stana
Scenography:  I. Geza Bíró
Premiere date: September 12, 1970

„"The Ark of Good Hope" undertakes, in the archetypal terms of the parable converted into theatrical expression, a meditation on the destiny of humanity, located on the symbolic ark of its own history. Noah's ark floats alone, lost in the blasphemy and in the boundless night. The biblical legend becomes a pretext to depict the deep motives that set in motion the energies of history: the eternal struggle between hope in the future and the forces of darkness, of pride, the thirst for domination, the helpless despair. The characters of the play represent one of the conflicting camps. Shem is the obscure, elemental force, founded on the principle of the right of the strongest; Ham embodies the dehumanization of that part of modern science whose goal is not the happiness of humanity, but supremacy over the universe; Japheth, the youngest brother, seeks a positive sign, a connection with humanity, a possible world. The appearance of the woman Ara, invested with the virtues of the mother of humanity, stirs up strife, unleashes passions and ambitions latent until then. In the end, Noah and his partner, the Old Woman, die, the two brothers of vain ambitions also perish, leaving only Ara and Japheth, embodying hope in a future world. The philosophical charge of the play suggests that beauty, wisdom, humanity, love are values that exist and remain to germinate further in the given space of the ark that symbolizes the world.

Distribution:

Noah:  Dorel Urlățeanu emeritus artist
Noah:  Alla Tautu
I am:  Eugen Tugulea
Harness:  Jean Sandulescu
Japheth:  Nicolae Barosan
Ara:  Elizabeth Jar
Protoss:  John Martin