Comedy in five acts by A.N. Ostrovsky
Translation: Valeria and Profira Sadoveanu

Artistic director: Dan Alecsandrescu
Decor: Valeriu Moisescu
Costumes: Eliza Popescu
Premiere date: April 24, 1960

The central character of the play „The Forest” by NA Ostrovsky is Gurmijskaya, a landlady who, under an appearance of severe virtue, hides a past rich in adventures and a present love for the much too young Bulanov. She shelters a poor relative, Aksyusha, who wishes to marry the son of a timber merchant, Vosmibratov. He opposes the marriage, because the girl has no dowry, and Gurmijskaya does not want to give him anything. Overwhelmed by misery and outraged by this supremacy of money, Aksyusha is ready to commit suicide. A brother of hers, a poor actor, stops her from this extravagant gesture and offers her a sum of money to make the marriage possible. In turn, Gurmijskaya marries the young man who could have been her son, if not her grandson.

Beyond this plot, the play is rich in well-drawn characters and symbols. The forest becomes a metaphor for obscurantism, concealment, work, and what is bought and sold. While Gurmîjscaia is always forced to sell a piece of forest to secure her dubious pleasures, Vosmibratov always buys from her, deceiving her when he can and enriching himself at the expense of this trade. Thus, while reality reduces human relations to trade and intrigues of convenience, art and humanity deprive life of what it has more profoundly: love.

Distribution:

Raisa Pavlovna Gurmayskaya:  Maud Mary
Axinia Danilova:  Simona Constantinescu, Doina Urlăţeanu
Evgeny Apollonovich Milonov:  Misu Vladimir
Uar Kirillichi Bodaev:  Constantin Simionescu
Ivan Petrov Vosmibratov:  Nicholas Thomas
Piotr:  Grig Schitcu, George Pintilescu
Alexei Sergeevich Bulanov:  Jean Sandulescu
Gennady Nesciastlivtsev:  Ricardo Colbert
Arkady Shastlivtsev:  Dorel Urlățeanu
Karp:  Valeriu Grama
Street:  Stefania Popescu, Lucy Chevalier

Technical director: Dalma Simionescu
Prompter: Sofica Spoiala