- by David Lindsay-Abaire
- Translation: Adina Oniciuc
- directed by: Radu Iacoban
- Set design: Tudor Prodan
- Music: Aida Šošić
- lighting design: Alexandru Bibere
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Friday 20 March, time 19:00
A couple's perfect life is turned upside down when their son, Danny, dies in an accident. The couple struggle to carry on with their lives, each trying a different way to cope with the tragedy, but ultimately come together in a tacit decision to accept that the pain will never end.
The play is an autopsy of tragedy, meticulously, empathetically and humorously investigating the depths of grief and how the characters involved deal with its various phases.
David Lindsay-Abaire's play won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007 and was screened in 2010, starring Nicole Kidman.
Cast
- BECCA: Mihaela Velicu
- IZZY: Ecaterina Lupu
- HOWIE: Lucian Iftime
- NAT: Lana Moscaliuc
- JASON WILLETTE: Theodor Șoptelea ,Cătălin Bucur
Photo Gallery
Reviews
Parallel universes is an intimate show, which addresses the soul, not necessarily reason. Which speaks as firmly and veiledly as possible about pain and suffering, subtly exposing the psychological processes that take place in the human being in such situations. A show in which, whether we understand organically or not the situation of the two spouses, we come to perceive it on a soul level. We understand that it is okay to express our pain in any form, we can ignore it, we can suppress it, we can show it openly, as long as at some point, we decide to accept it. The brick in the pocket will never go away, but in time we will get used to its weight.
Andreea Telehoi, Teatrul azi nr. 5-6
https://teatrul-azi.ro/produs/teatrul-azi-numarul-5-6-2022/
Radu Iacoban does not turn the play into a shrill cry of pain, although there are solid reasons to do so. On the contrary, the life of the family struck by fate seems to flow almost normally, only that, from time to time, the suffering of its members breaks through to the surface in various forms. Instead, Radu Iacoban maintains a diffuse but constant tension for almost the entire duration of the play that keeps the viewer in a permanent state of tension. Through repeated images of the missing child, through the play of lights, through music, an atmosphere full of dramatic tension is gradually created. (...) I saw a very homogeneous team at work. Mihaela Velicu (mother), Cătălina Mihai (mother's sister, alternately played by Ecaterina Lupu), Lucian Iftime (father), Lana Moscaliuc (grandmother) and Theodor Șoptelea (author of the accident, alternately played by Cătălin Bucur) perform very well together. A beautifully and carefully crafted play, with good actors who perfectly understood the director's instructions. I mean, a real theater show, the likes of which I haven't seen in a long time. I would even say that Universuri paralele is one of the best shows played during the Brăila festival, 2022. Or, as a teenage girl excitedly exclaimed at the end of the play, I would see it one more time!
Dan Rotaru - Agenda LiterNet
https://agenda.liternet.ro/articol/26790/Dan-Rotaru/L-as-mai-vedea-o-data-Universuri-paralele-la-Festivalul-International-de-Teatru-si-Arte-Performative-Braila-2022.html
The performance “Parallel Universes” by David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by Radu Iacoban at the Constanța State Theatre, has the lucidity of simplicity and the decency of telling, with tenderness, a story about death: the death of a child, of a relationship, and of a family micro-cosmos. The text, sharp as a razor blade, offers the actors an encounter with characters that are anything but ordinary. You cannot play this performance in a detached, technical manner. There is no way. The brutal emotion of the situation and the relationships can very easily slip into the slope of tense exaggerations that drive the tragic shiver out of the auditorium. Artistic refinement is what ensures the well-placed welding points on this mined terrain. And Radu Iacoban seems to have kept any temptation of letting the overflowing emotion flood the stage firmly in check. “Parallel Universes” is a performance in which all the theatrical elements become more than a cleverly assembled puzzle. From the functional-symbolic set, which seems to be a concrete extension of the director’s vision, designed by Tudor Prodan, to the controlled explosions delivered with maximum effect, scene by scene, with patience and a generous rhythm, with a meticulously executed plan, everything is as it should be in order to become much more than a sad story; it is a fulfilled promise.
Alina Epîngeac - epingeac.com
https://epingeac.com/2022/05/23/doliul-care-transcende-universuri-paralele/