Last Stop in Paradise
Category: PlaysNorth Theatre, Satu Mare, Romania
“Last Stop in Paradise”/ Ultima haltă în Paradis
The performance was part of the 2003 – 2003 repertoire of North Theatre, Satu Mare, Romania. The premiere took place on the 9th of February 2003, shortly after the release of the TV version of the same play. The jury made up of theatre critics such as Alice Georgescu, Cristina Modreanu and Ion Parhon selected this production for the 2nd edition of FestCo (The Romanian Comedy Festival) in 2004.
Stage direction: Andrei Mihalache
Costumes: Alexandru Radu
Choreography: Gabriela Tănase
Casting:
Mitică – Radu Botar
Ionel – Ciprian Vultur
The doctor – Paula Chirilă
The nurse – Dana Moisuc
The brown-haired woman – Ortansa Codreanu
The red-haired woman – Gabriela Dorgai
The fair-haired woman – Carmen Frăţilă
Valentin Nicolau interviewed before the premiere (fragment excerpted from the brochure of the performance meant for the audience)
Which is the first thing that comes in your mind when I say „Satu Mare”?
Satu Mare was my first destination as a geophysicist specializing in prospecting, at the time when I got a job in engineering after graduating university. In September 1985, I took a bus from Satu Mare to Negresti, Oas, an area under geological prospecting. I can still remember, as clear as daylight, that when I got off the bus, there was a poster on the wall of the building next to the bus station announcing “The Poor Millionaire”, a performance based on Tudor Popescu’s play. Years later, Tudor Popescu was the man who encouraged me to subscribe my first play and even more, he mad me confident and hopeful so that I would go on writing plays.
This premier follows shortly after the release of the TV production based on the same play. What are your expectations from this stage performance?
The TV production by director Alexandru Tocilescu got huge feedback. It also saw the comeback of Florin Piersic, a great actor. But theatre involves stage, audience and relating. I can’t speak of expectations, but just of the emotion I feel.
How does on perceive the theatre in the province from Bucharest, the capital city of Romania?
The world of province is sometimes loaded with pejorative connotations. But I am not one of those who make such associations, for I have seen extraordinary performances in many theatres in the country. This is why I take this as a matter of geography, not as one of value in the world of arts. There is also the fact that in many theatres in Bucharest one can see a lot of “provincial” performances. The value of a performance does not depend on the geographical position of the place where it is staged. If there is a problem, that problem consists in the fact that the productions of theatres in other Romanian cities than Bucharest are shown in the capital too rarely.
What is your opinion on the so-called shortage of Romanian playwrights at the moment?
This goes for the entire Romanian literature in the contemporary society, in relation to readers’ expectations. As for playwrights, plays make a difficult genre for writers. It has got specific requirements and it has a potential to disappoint writers, since theatre is a form of art involving intermediaries. As for who is at fault for a possible failure, this is hard to say. There are few stage performances to start from the plays that are being written at present, in fact. Stage directors and theatre presidents are at fault as far as this is concerned, for they prefer filling their CVs with names of classical playwrights, for they can no longer and they can no longer see their works modified (adapted). And they can no longer make financial claims. I think those who bet on the high quality contemporary plays, as many as we have got at present, can win the bet made with the audience. (Gabriela Şimon)