Comedy in two acts – with music, couplets and dance – by ILCaragiale

Artistic direction: Mihai Raicu
Assistant director: Jean Săndulescu
Scenography: Maria Haţeganu
Couplets: Nicolae Popeneciu
Music and musical direction: Mihai Vasilescu
Premiere date: February 20, 1971

„"A Stormy Night", the well-known play by IL Caragiale evokes a not too distant and not at all idealized time, a time when human characters mirror absolutely hilarious morals and situations, worthy of highlighting, since we can find current typologies, doing just a small recognition exercise. Captain Dumitrache Titircă, also known as Inimă-Rea, a captain in the Civil Guard and a liberal political activist, is a man who respects himself and wants to be respected, especially in his "honor as a family man". Very outraged by the "vagrants" who have filled the world, Dumitrache tells his friend Nae Ipingescu how for two weeks, an "employee" has been burning his days, looking for ladies: Veta - his wife and Ziţa - his sister-in-law. Veta, however, married at a young age to Dumitrache, a "coptic" man, has an affair with Chiriac, the captain's trusted man. The comic climax is reached when from the street, Dumitrache, who is doing his night patrol, shouts to Chiriac, tightly embraced by Veta, to watch over his honor as a family man.

The second act is explosive and the adventures follow one another at a dizzying pace. Accidentally entering Veta's room in the dark, Rică Venturiano, Zita's admirer and none other than the "tramp" pursued by Dumitrache, is helped by Veta to escape the wrath of her jealous husband. In the end, the intruder is caught, but everything ends well. For Dumitrache, the alliance through Zita's marriage to Rică, a law student and ardent publicist, seems salutary. When things seem to have calmed down and the storm caused by a reversed house number is completely calmed down, Master Dumitrache has one last jolt of "ambition", taking out of his pocket the necktie found in his wife's bed. Chiriac, however, gives the necessary explanations: "Yes! Come back, master; that's my tie, don't you know?". The great subtlety lies in the fact that we will never know whether Dumitrache knows this spicy truth about his family life or not.

The 1970 staging of the well-known Caragiale text brought as a novelty the inclusion of musical couplets created by the Satu Mare actor Nicolae Popeneciu. Their introduction was considered welcome, as they were a continuation of the characters' lines, an underlining of them, adding color and excitement to the stage action.

Distribution:

Master Dumitrache:  Octavian Uleu
Nae Ipingescu:  Marcel Segărceanu
Chiriac:  Ion Tomorrow
Spyridon:  Grig Dristaru
Rica Venturiano:  George Stana
Veta:  Olympia Tomorrow
Zita:  Anca Miere Chirilă, Gina Nicolae 
Perform couplets:  Gina Nicolae, Ion Martin, Grig Schitcu, Ana Popa
Dancer:  Ani Ungureanu, Marta Nagy

Technical director: Elena Varlam
Prompter: Sofica Spoiala
Lighting: Vasile Blejan
Sound: Dorel Olea