by Witold Gombrowicz
Translation: Olga Zaicik

Artistic director: Alina Hiristea
Assistant director: Elvira Platon Râmbu
Scenography: Adrian Buzas
Choreography: Victoria Bucun
Musical illustration: Alina Hiristea, Victoria Bucun, Florian Chelu
Premiere date: May 23, 2002

„"The action takes place at the Court, the ideal form, immutable in its structures, conventions, rituals, etiquette. Everything here takes place according to pre-established rules, from which no one can deviate. It becomes a collection of stereotypes; a mandatory code, they order the universe, making it intelligible but, above all, they prevent any surprise, dispense with any spontaneous individual reaction.

Brought to the Court on a whim of the Crown Prince, Ivona, the charmless, soft, apathetic, "stupid" girl, silent to the point of muteness, arouses confusion, then panic. Interestingly, Ivona does nothing, absolutely nothing that endangers the Court. But from the very moment she shows herself incapable of making a simple bow, an insignificant gesture, but how important as a symbol of adaptation, of shaping, of fitting in with others, she becomes a danger. Unable to enter the game, she is a foreign body, an unknown in a familiar world, the others being forced to redefine themselves in relation to her. Ivona in turn causes panic in the graphomaniac Queen, who fears she will be exposed, the King, whom she reminds of a crime he committed long ago, the ladies of the Court, who are not as perfect as they seem, the sly, cynical and scheming Chamberlain, and finally even the Prince. "Appearances must be saved," says the Queen.

... Suspected, spied on, terrorized, Ivona will finally be murdered at a feast given in honor of her engagement to Prince Philip, where she will drown herself with a fish bone.

… After her death (murder), etiquette is reinstated, the Great Gear once set in motion, everyone regains the certainty of personal security. The form continues to cover up the tricks, the lies, and even the murder. Disorder, the chaos have been removed. By suppressing Ivona, everything returns to normal.” (from the program booklet of the show – quoted from Olga Zaicik, afterword to vol. „Journal și Teatru”, Ed. Univers, 1988).

Distribution:

Ivona:  Mona Erhan
King Ignatius:  Doru Firte
Queen Margaret:  Elvira Platon Rîmbu
Prince Philip:  Serban Borda
Chamberlain:  Sebastian Lupu, Emil Sauciuc
Iza:  Simona Nica
Cyril:  Alexandru Rusu, Sebastian Lupu
Aunt I, Mrs. I:  Mariana Neagu
Aunt II, Mrs. II:  Ileana Iurciuc
Innocent:  Petre Ghimbasan
Courtiers:  Corina Cernea, Mirela Nita Lupu, Andrian Locovei, Pavel Sarghi, Igor Lungu, Sorin Ciofu, Alexandru Rusu, Zentania Lupse, Mihaela Gherdan, György Linda, Adrian Marian

Technical director: Florin Popescu
Prompter: Iuliana Chelu
Lights: Iosif Balogh, Sorin Precup, Sándor Attila Nagy
Sound: Cristian Segărceanu