scenario by Radu Măcrinici, directed by Anca Maria Colțeanu
Santiago: Marius Stănescu
The Alchemist: Constantin Cojocaru
The gipsy woman: Adriana Trandafir
Fatima: Elvira Deatcu / Crina Mureşan
The King of Salem: Sebastian Papaiani
The crystal objects seller: Laurenţiu Lazăr
The Father: Mugur Arvunescu
The Caravan Driver: Mircea Constantinescu
The Englishman: Pavel Bartoş
The Arab: Ioan Batinaş
The Dervis: Gabriel Pintilei
The Dervis: Toma Dănilă / Șerban Mihalus
Directed by: Anca Maria Colţeanu
Stage design: Dragoş Buhagiar
Choreography: Gabriel Pintilei
Music: Raluca Ioan
Dramatization: Radu Macrinici
National Festival of Theatre I.L.Caragiale, Bucharest (2002)
Opening night: April 4, 2002
In an age without mistery, in an age when on stage or at TV, the spectator is pestered with surrogates and vulgarity, “The Alchemist” wants to be an alchemic, purifying and therapeutical performance.
Its story began with an urge: “Read this book and put it into a performance!”. I read it and began to want to do this performance. Six years had passed and I hadn’t done anything for it. I think it had to be done now. It’s a performance that does not belong to a particular moment in time. It breaks off from the present, it’s stronger than the present, it goes beyond the present. It’s a performance made up of notions that stood up eternity: God, love, dream, luck, a dramatic score of man’s existence. It’s a story about dream, faith and love. A lesson in alchemy.”
Anca Colțeanu
Press Reviews
Double premiere at the Odeon Theatre: the staging of “The Alchemist” and the re-launching of Paulo Coelhos novel.
Romanian theatre begins to be an authentic partner in the market economy. An example is the double premiere at the Odeon Theatre, from Sunday, April the 7th. It consists of an unusual partnership between Humanitas publishing house, managed by Gabriel Liiceanu and the Odeon Theatre, managed by the actress Dorina Lazar.
Theatrical, enigmatic, glamorous, yet shocking, the set and the costumes suggest a place and a time both modern and archaic, an alchemic recipient with which we can identify. The one who renders tension and emotion to the performance is Marius Stanescu, that portreys Santiago. With simplicity and spirit, he embellishes this ars amandi mistica. He is supported by the other actors, who manage to do a sketch of their characters: Sebastian Papaiani, Pavel Bartoș, Adriana Trandafir, Constantin Cojocaru, Elvira Deatcu, Mircea Constantinescu, Laurențiu Lazăr, Ioan Bătinaș, Mugur Arvunescu and Gabriel Pintilei.
Buhagiar’s set serves the performance so well, that it’s hard to separate the director’s contribution from the general solution oferred by the stage-designer.
The casting is also very good. Marius Stanescu, as the main character, shows both man’s frailty and force, coming from obstinately pursuing one’s ideal. Marius Stanescu’s roles recommend him as an exceptional talent, a very rare and precious type of actor.
