Play in two parts by Nelu Ionescu

Artistic director: Eugen Ţugulea
Scenography: Tatiana Manolescu Uleu
Soundtrack:  LOUIS Boross
Premiere date: March 13, 1980

The highly successful play "How Catinca the Old Woman Survived" is ostensibly built around the theme of the condition of women, but in reality we are dealing with a drama of loneliness. The play's action follows, over thirty years, the biography of a woman, a typical product of the social mutations of the time.

After her childhood in the countryside and studies, Catinca first works as a nurse, then, after finishing her studies at a pharmacy school, she gets a job at a pharmacy in a commune. The play suggests that the skills and qualities of this peasant girl could have taken her even further and that settling into that position was a personal choice. Professional achievement is opposed, however, by failure in her personal life. In this regard, the experiences are unfortunate, mistakes alternate with disappointments and misfortunes, hesitations with categorical refusals. In a direct, journalistic style, the author groups around the heroine several profiles, from the aggressive and cynical type (the Doctor), to the island devoid of personality (Andu), from the egoist with a dry soul (the Lecturer) to the man of great warmth and generosity (Mihai). The focus falls both on Catinca's series of failures and on the procession of figures she interacts with, each of whom could become a case study. The heroine does not seek the absolute, a perfect chosen one, beyond the limits of humanity. Simply put, in every situation, Catinca refuses compromise, and the price paid is loneliness.

Distribution:

Catinca:  Mariana Neagu
Olympia:  Alla Tautu
The prosecutor:  Marcel Segărceanu
The doctor:  Eugen Harizomenov
Andu: Ion Abrudan
Ion:  Nicolae Barosan 
Associate Professor Atanasiu:  Laurian Jivan
Seamstress:  Anca Miere Chirilă
Michael:  Marcel Popa
Waitress:  Olympia Tomorrow
The mayor:  John Martin
Ileana:  Mariana Vasile, Florence Manea

Technical director: Elena Varlam
Prompter: Florence Szabo
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea