A clean house is the recent premiere of the Bucharest National. Pesemna, one of the last in the season. In the time that has passed since the first lifting of the curtain until today, several chronicles have appeared that express different opinions, which, after all, is natural.

However, I find two other things interesting. First, a large number of critics admitted that until they saw this play and until they consulted the complete theater notebook, professionally prepared by Anita Neagu, they had not heard of the play’s author. Not that much of a piece. A somewhat strange thing from 2004 A clean house she was awarded a prize Susan Smith Bulkburnand a year later she was nominated for a much louder one Pulitzer. How can we say that Sara Ruhl’s works are not the first to be heard on stage in Romania. In 2009, it was staged at the Hungarian State Theater in Cluj-Napoca, directed by Kerestes Attila and starring Magda Stief-Mugur, Windis Andrea, Tsiki Ibolja, Kerestes Sándor and Sebok Klara. Some time ago, another writer’s entry (no, I don’t want to write a playwright and peace!). Melancholyplayed in Tirgovishte under the leadership of Andrea Vulpe.

Finally, I was personally surprised by the fact that quite a few commenters expressed reservations about the song. From which they had much more expectations, which they wanted to be more complex, full of ideas, more philosophical. It’s as if they don’t know anything about what kind of works they are promoting, nominated, awarded Pulitzer. And about the specifics of a significant part of American drama, written primarily with an actor’s mind. To actors and to people.

From my point of view, A clean house it’s not a bad piece by any means. And this is also not unimportant. This is by no means a trifle or a trifle. This seems to me to be a typical 21st century example of presenting a so-called well-made piece. Who also has ideas, who also has feelings, who, nowadays, mixes a smile with a tear, who seems to rely on emotions rather than laughter, and who – most importantly! – it relies on actors, not fresh, not just any, but the same ones. Moments of life, sensitivity, masterful turns, tears, invasion of strategically mocked telenovelas, high-quality humor – these are the proven ingredients that Sarah Ruhl serves to a discerning audience. An audience that doesn’t think too much about whether you can die laughing, as some pretentious critics have done. Yes, it is possible!

A clean house he does not problematize excessively, because he does not have a goal to do so, although such topics as life, death, true love, forgiveness, the power of overcoming resentment, relativization of some iron rules of daily existence should not be neglected. And they really do not go unnoticed. The work proves that the author perfectly learned the lesson of the great American playwrights of the 20th century, who are concerned about life and family, but do not want to philosophize about them. State the themes and let the audience think about them. Reflect and be moved. In fact, Sarah Ruhl reminds us that in addition to everything else, professional and material achievements, perfectly dosed existence, something else is needed. Something we need to be able to say that we are fulfilled as human beings. Love, tolerance and benevolence in interpersonal relations.

Lane and Charles are two successful doctors. In a big hospital. Top, as they say today. They got married during their student years, maybe because they matched in spirit, or maybe simply because their professions coincided. Later, there were similar paces of life, working hours, a life devoted mainly to patients. Both led routine lives. No big surprises, no big dramas. Lane’s headache is not the lack of real communication with Charles, but the departure of the housekeeper and the search for a replacement. To keep the house clean. It’s just that someone with countless degrees, certifications, and professional qualifications like Lane isn’t going to be cleaning. This happens until the moment when Matilda appears in their lives, a young Brazilian housekeeper whose mother died of laughter, who thinks only of jokes (albeit dry ones) and who did not like to clean. As a result, he falls into depression. So, until a certain point, unbeknownst to Lane, Virginia is doing the cleaning. Lane’s sister, not at all like the seemingly accomplished Lane, who didn’t know how to take advantage of her superior qualifications in classical studies. Ana, a patient (in the series) of Jewish origin, suffering from cancer, appeared in Charles’s life. Matilda, Virginia and Ana teach the two doctors what real life means. And so it happens that although this lesson is also associated with some costs – separation, physical and mental suffering, death – those who remained alive, in the end, turn out to be more human, better, wiser.

The story is skillfully presented in the text, skillfully appears on stage. Director Felix Alexa played several roles. He assembled a very good cast, some actors with a lot of experience, such as Iryna Movila, Ana Chontia, Lamia Beligan and Richard Bovnotsky, joined by a promising, energetic actress in the early years of her career – Sandra Dukutse. The director kept pace with the performance, and this happened thanks to the exquisite nuances of the acting and the inspired, boisterous musical illustration. The inserts created by Gustavo Dudamel-Marquez were the perfect choice. Felix Alexa designed the light himself. Which emphasizes the cold, unwelcoming, deliberately designed white color of the clean house (the scenography was designed by Stefan Karaghiu) and gives it increasingly stronger nuances as the story progresses. In addition, Felix Alexa has brought to power both the idea and the emotion of the text, avoiding the danger of falling into melodrama. Yes, there are laughs in the play, but it’s not like they’re laughing in the way that the minimal Broadway recipe calls for. He also cries, but discreetly, simply, not with a dramatic roar.

Iryna Movila and Ana Chontya are flawless in both roles, in characters that complement each other. Irina gives a wonderful performance as a self-assured woman with a metronomic life, a perfectly arranged daily schedule, with all the details of what it means to be a successful doctor, and who sees her entire existence destroyed after Charles leaves her. Move. Lane heals, becomes more human, more sensitive as she resonates with Ana’s problems, as she comes to understand Charles as she comes to understand her sister. Until then, it was almost ignored. Of course, A clean house it’s anything gull, but the artistic performance of Iryna Movil from Arkadina at that time is by no means overshadowed in the role of Lane. Iryna Movila is professionally consistent with herself, knowing how to be different with each new role. Ana Chontea is also very good, with the unexpected, clumsy, frugal side of Virginia’s personality. This success comes after one of the Creator of the theater. Lively, human, with the sparkle that the role demands, I found Lamia Beligan as Ana. The youthful, almost adolescent mood in the performance of Richard Bovnotsky Charles also deserves all the praise. The very young Sandra Dukutse also deserves gratitude. In fact, the role now is a relapse. At the same time secondary. It remains to be hoped that the National Theater in Bucharest will not repeat the mistake with Nico Becker in her case. – Read the whole article and comment on Contribuotrs.ro