The American playwright Edward Allen Baker (1950-2021) seems to have been a fan of the short play. He wrote a few, and most of them, especially from the 80s, when no one anticipated the extent of the ideological exaggerations of today, have mostly female images.

There, Dolores, a play recently included in the repertoire of the Youth Theater in Piatra Neamka thanks to Alexandra Muskalaghiu’s translation and a beautiful performance of considerable artistic quality staged by Cyprian V. Nechita, dates from 1984 and tells the life stories of two sisters. The first is Sandra, the second is Dolores. Neither of them, as we will see, was unlucky in life. Both suffered from domestic violence. It seems to have a consistent history in their case, as even their parents didn’t have a very happy marriage. But if Dolores is undoubtedly the black sheep of the family, in the midst of many failed marriages in which Jerry ended in the worst possible way, she does not hesitate to talk about the repeated aggression her partner subjected her to in front of other men. with whom she had a more or less casual relationship, Sandra chose to remain silent. Because it is better that way, because it is the way of customs, because it is not appropriate to publicize personal problems. As it was with Dolores. Both Sandra and the third sister, a certain Mary Ann, and their mother disagree, at least on the face of it, with Dolores’ way of life. What I either avoid or categorically reject.

However, on a day off, when Sandra realizes that she can fake a certain state of normalcy in a more believable, normal way, which means reading a magazine in relative silence and enjoying a humble glass of Coke, the masks come down irrevocably. Dolores bursts into Sandra’s apartment unexpectedly, clearly unwelcome and completely confused. Whom he asks, he begs to take her in to protect himself from Jerry’s abuse. Claiming to be haunted, Dolores details her suffering, which Sandra at first ironically classifies as war stories. It’s about the things no one wants to hear, as Dolores so aptly points out.

At first Sandra refuses. She wants peace and doesn’t want to upset Winnie. After all kinds of negotiations, after topical returns to the past, after recalling childhood traumas, Sandra relents. Agrees to take in Dolores, later admits that her relationship with Winnie is also far from good. Then comes the real revolution. In reality, Dolores killed Jerry. The crime is described in lavish detail, and thanks to Sandra’s phone call from Marry Anne, we learn that the police have discovered Jerry’s body.

This would be, in general, the subject of the play Dolores. Essentially realistic, which cannot but remind to some extent of Ibsen, much more meaningful than the works of Tennessee Williams. From drama the american dream The play directed by Chypriyan V. Nechyta is not satisfied with this. After the first version, in which the action takes place somewhere in the 80s, the version in which Elena Popa plays Sandra and Nora Kovali as Dolores, heblu follows, some changes in the setting (intellectual scenography by Madalina Sandu) are immediately effective. drivers of the Theater named after Which thus brings Jerry, Winnie, a little later and Frankie or Tommy to the stage. And finally comes a surprise. Broadly speaking, history provides the answer by transplanting it to the present day. We are dealing with a switch, that is, with a change of roles. So, we will see Nora Kovali as Sandra and Elena Popa as Dolores. free? Excessive traffic? Waste of time? In no case. Ideally, in this way, the idea that any woman can be a new Dolores is emphasized, that, apart from words, symposiums and repeated declarations of good intentions, the problem of domestic violence remains unresolved, that the reality of families in the modern world is not at all rosy. Artistically, we can see a demonstration of what acting is all about. I mean strength. Ingenuity. Original. refusal Copy Paste-in Nora Kovali and Elena Popa never mention each other. To put it more clearly, the two actresses do not cannibalize each other. Each plays the same role in a different key, maintaining a wonderful sense of proportion. Both are strong actresses, possessing the rigor of the profession. In both situations, their characters struggle with each other, only to then show solidarity with each other.

The result was a wonderful short theatrical performance. Which shows that it is possible to talk about women’s problems and family problems without aggression and without increased militancy. It is a show whose success competes, in addition to those already mentioned, with the actresses Lucrezia Mandrich, Loredana Grigoriou and Ekaterina Gatsu in the videography, the lighting design created by Kosti Bacu and the video inserts signed by Andrii Ceobanu. and, last but not least two machinists. _

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