Everything is relative is a play written by prolific British playwright Alan Ayckbourn in 1967. According to other sources, in 1972. I will not say more about her, although I could once again complain on the computer screen about how bad the sources of information are for a critic of Romanian theater.

When in 2017, director Felix Alexa staged the script for the first time in Romania on the stage of the theater named after Nottara from Bucharest, and not by any means, but with an exceptional cast (Catrinel Dumitrescu, Constantin Cotimanis, Gabriel Reuce and Raluca Georgiou/Irina Velcescu), I expressed my surprise that it arrived in our country so late. When I wrote this, I meant that Alan Ayckbourn himself owes a lot bestseller. English plural. Staged in 1978 at the Teatrul Mic, Sanda Manu, with the exceptional Rodika Tapalage in fine form (Tetiana Jekel and Mitica Popescu were also very good), was the venue’s longest-running show. The production held the poster of the theater in Serindar for 17 years. Its success was so great that in 2003, Sanda Manu returned and directed in the same theater. What does the other half think. Actors Claudio Istodor, Adriana Ciopu, Ovidiu Niculescu, Simona Mihescu, Vitalie Bantas and Rodica Negrea starred in Maria Miu’s scenography.

It’s been quite some time since 2017, and as far as I could tell based on (again!) our extremely poor sources of information (unfortunately, the valuable website The director is looking for a game), Everything is relative very few theaters paid attention to him. It should not be understood from this that I would instantly become who knows what a great supporter of tabloid comedy. With the so-called well written pieces. Or descriptive, as the late Valentin Silvestro ironically called them. But I believe that if such plays should still be staged, and to make life in the theater more carefree, then at least the best ones should be chosen.

Everything is relative it was called when it was just a project in the works Meeting with father. And this is exactly what the play is about. About young Ginny and Greg’s stormy date with mature Sheila and Philip. Ginny told Greg that Sheila and Philip would be his parents and that she would use the weekend to visit them unannounced. However, she does not want Greg to accompany her. However, Greg also unexpectedly goes on a road trip to ask the consent of the supposed future in-laws, hence the whole series of confusion. Situations based mainly on dialogues, that is, on the exchange of words between two characters, during which one of them cannot come out with a clean face from the pile of lies into which he himself plunged. And just when you think that everything is finally settled, something new appears, another case or an unexpected detail, and the story gets confused again. To the despair of the heroes, who no longer know how to take off their shirts, and the uncontrollable laughter of the audience.

Maybe there’s too much going on, maybe Alan Oakbourne forgot Horace’s line Est modus en rebus. However, this is the merit of the director Claudio Goga, who knew how to perform in the Company Liviu Rebreanu national from Tirgu Mures to keep the situation under control. We laugh a lot, we laugh heartily for two hours, and even better – the entire time of the performance (it is played without a break), but not a single moment of bad taste or vulgarity. Each of the four actors – the experienced Elena Purea and Dan Redulescu, the younger Andrii Ciran and Loredana Dascalu – carefully and concentratedly play each dramatic situation, make the most of its humor, show respect for the audience and partners on stage. He does not try to take another person’s place, he knows what team spirit is and how to respect it.

No, you don’t leave the show smarter or more philosophical. But you will definitely leave in a better mood.

National Theater from Tirgu Mures -Company Liviu Rebreanu

EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE with Alan Ayckbourn

2. Repeated crime

Less than a year after the premiere in Baia Mare, the actor from Oradea, Daniel Vulcu, relapses. Set on the stage of the Theater queen maria from Oradea, a show with a play Cactus flower. He tries to do it a little differently than the first time, i.e. bolder, lower (see Igor’s dance), perhaps even more Parisian, more à la française.

So videos from different places of the French capital are projected in the background. We also see some scenes from productions in which Alain Delon or Louis de Funes were the stars (video: Șerban Carțis), we also have an accordionist (Alin Răsădean) and almost all the cast members (especially Gabriel Caudry) remind us of the big hits . Sing solo, duet, trio or choir. Of course, if possible in French, which can always be corrected. Periodically, all the characters of the play gather together on stage to offer the daily program (why is it not in the playlist, otherwise it is rich, even too rich, hence the too long duration of the play, so well known In Foule Piaf?), or to cover the time required for set changes, or for to the grand finale, as the Italians say. When everyone, friend or foe, forgets all the bad things and benefits from rest and UV rays. In Saint-Tropez, of course. The awards, the compliments, are well-deserved, since they put so much effort into dealing with the entanglements they got into, either willingly or unwillingly, due to the cascading lies of the short-haired dentist Julien Desforges. –

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