by Jean Anouilh
Translation: Valentin Lipatti

Artistic director: Radu Penciulescu and Valeriu Grama
Scenography: Tody Constantinescu
Music illustration: Paul Urmuzescu
Premiere date: June 2, 1958

Jean Anouilh's "The Lark" retells the essential episodes of the life of Joan of Arc, a well-known story: at a difficult moment in history, when France is invaded by English troops, Joan of Arc, a simple girl from the people, revives the soldiers, recaptures the city of Orléans, defeats the enemies at Patay and crowns Charles VII in the cathedral of Reims. She then tries to recapture Paris, but is betrayed and abandoned by the king to whom she had restored power. In the end, Joan is sold to the English who stage a religious trial for her and burn her alive at the stake, under the pretext of heresy and infidelity, in a square in Rouen (1431).

The French playwright faithfully follows the stages of Joan's short but brilliant life and, to present them, resorts to an ingenious formula: he reconstructs the trial of Rouen, in which Joan recounts her life and deeds retrospectively, as in a film. The play alternates between scenes of accusation in the courtroom of Rouen (accusations brought by Bishop Cauchon, the Inquisitor, the Earl of Warwick and others) and retrospective scenes from Joan's life. As Joan unfolds her autobiography, the characters who participated in the most significant episodes appear. From Joan's relations with the judges, from arguments and counterarguments, the ideological content of the play is constructed.

Distribution:

Joanna:  Eliza Plopeanu
Cauchon:  Gheorghe Popa Mijea, Constantin Adamovici
The Inquisitor:  Ion Marinescu
The promoter:  Nicholas Thomas
Ladren:  Valeriu Grama
Wanwick:  Ilie Iliescu
Carol:  Radu Reisel
Queen Yolanda:  Lili Mihailescu
The little queen:  Liana Vilceanu
Agnes:  Lucy Chevalier
The Archbishop:  Dorel Urlățeanu
At Tremonille:  Misu Vladimir
Beaudincourt:  Ricardo Colberti, Ioan Pater
For Hire:  Zacharias Volbea
Father:  Eugen Tugulea
Parent:  Stefania Popescu
Brother:  Grig Schiţcu
The executioner:  John Pater, George Pintilescu
Soldier I:  George Pintilescu, Eugen Nagy
The guard:  Dan Alecsandrescu
Page:  George V. George

Technical director: Veronica Colberti
Prompter: Cornelia Brezeanu
Lighting: Vasile Zigre, Ludovic Veres

AWARDS:
– Female Performance Award: Eliza Plopeanu, at the National Theater Festival in Bucharest, 1958