Comedy by DRPopescu
National premiere

Artistic director: Ion Deloreanu
Scenography: Tatiana Manolescu Uleu
Choreography: Gabriela Taub
Incidental music: Mihai Vasilescu
Premiere date: November 1, 1968

In "Parallel Lives", Plutarch records the historical event of Caesar's kidnapping by a group of pirates and describes how the Roman leader amused his captors, writing poems and speeches that he then recited: "those he disliked he called downright rude and barbaric and often threatened them, laughing, with hanging. The pirates were delighted with Caesar's behavior, considering his audacity as simplicity and a joke."„

This historical event is taken up by DR Popescu as a pretext to create a play that questions the idea of tyranny, force, dictatorship. Prisoner, Caesar sees his entire future: the victories he has won, the power he will hold in the Roman Empire, his love for Cleopatra, even his assassination in the Senate. Contrary to the known historical course of events, Caesar is assassinated by the Pirate Captain, who decides to take his place and play out the scenario advanced by Caesar. But the Captain will, in turn, be suppressed by the Weak One, so that the series of usurpers could continue, endlessly, from one era to another. The identity of the possible/future Roman emperor is lost; a dictator bearing the name of Caesar will still exist, but it will no longer be known exactly who he was.

The composite style, sprinkled with parodic or historical anticipation elements, absurd and grotesque humor, work together to outline a theme with resonance in Romanian society at that time: the mechanism of formation of the dictator. Ultimately, the play suggests that the masks, the costumes, the times change, but the essence – the necessity of dictatorship – remains the same.

Distribution:

Caesar:  Jean Sandulescu
Captain:  Octavian Uleu
Skin:  Ion Abrudan
Fat:  John the Baptist
The weak:  Marcel Segărceanu
Dance:  Ligia Moga (National Theatre Cluj-Napoca)
The one-eyed pirate:  Grig Schiţcu
The drunk pirate:  John Martin

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Jeny Jurcă
Sound: Dorel Olea