- by Eugène Labiche
- Translation: Tudor Ţepeneag
- Music, Scenography and Directed by: Mc Ranin
"The most beautiful wife" (the original title "Madame este trop belle") by Eugène Labiche is a situation comedy in the Parisian bourgeoisie, the plot being woven around a most beautiful women courted by all the men around her.
It is a play performed for the first time in Romania by our theater, under the direction of Mihai Constantin Ranin, who conceived the direction, as well as the scenography and the musical illustration.
Prestigious artistic personality of the Romanian stage, Mc Ranin is a director and a stage designer (member of the Union of Fine Artists in Romania) who lived in France for ten years, where he studied at the Sorbonne with the Romanian theatrologist George Banu, but returned to Romania, considering it much more thrilling to live here.
In France he created two theater companies, collaborated with Radio France International, the Paris Museum of Modern Art, EuroDisney and several theaters.
Eugène Labiche (1815-1888) was seen by his admirers as Moliere equal, his comedies being considered more complex and less coarse than many other productions of the same genre. "Of all the characters that came out my way, that life offered me, I chose the bourgeois. Mediocre, par excellence, both in his vices and virtues, he is halfway between the hero and the villain, the saint and the offender", the playwright said referring to his work.
Cast
- Montgiscar: Liviu Manolache
- Chambrelan: Nicodim Ungureanu
- Jeanne: Florina Stănculeţ ,Georgiana Rusu
- Clercy: Andrei Cantaragiu
- Ernest: Remus Archip
- Octave: Andu Axente
- Madame Goberville: Luiza Martinescu
- Dl. Goberville: Adrian Dumitrescu
- Moulinot: Florin Aioane
- Domnişoara: Laura Crăciun
- Paznic, Invitat: Cosmin Mihale
- Invitată: Diana Vieriu
- Invitat: Florentin Roman
Photo Gallery
Reviews
"The performance, full of entanglements and old amorous slip-ups—such as the flirtations between Clercy's uncle, Montgiscar, and the father of the beautiful Jeanne, Chambrelan—affairs and nepotism, demonstrates that, although dressed in different garbs, the morals remain unchanged through the passage of time. The characters, dressed in black-and-white and shades of gray, evoke silent films, and their movements, expressions, and costumes are reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, serving the director's intent to transport the audience back in time. In the comedy "The Most Beautiful Wife", the scenery (with sculptures depicting masterpieces of antiquity, interiors of drawing rooms) changes quickly and openly, in semi-darkness, accompanied by a lively musical backdrop."
Mirela Stîngă, „Telegraf”.