The Sick // „Mihai Eminescu” National Theatre, Timișoara (Romania)

„Mihai Eminescu” National Theatre, Timișoara (Romania)

“Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it,” said Winston Churchill—one of Antonio Álamo’s characters—paraphrasing a philosopher of his time. The play The Patients is part of what Antonio Álamo called the Trilogy of Power. In Ioana Anghel’s translation, it represents an X-ray of a continent afflicted by the illnesses of its leaders—both sharp and imaginative, yet filled with humor. The Spanish playwright deconstructs the mechanisms of totalitarianism, presenting them as symptoms of degraded minds. He demonstrates this social and political thesis through a series of historical “guinea pigs”: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun at a moment of ultimate honesty, alongside Joseph Stalin, Lavrentiy Beria, Nikita Khrushchev, and a whole entourage of figures surrounding the dictator—all consumed by the very system they created. As a counterpoint, Álamo introduces a third key figure in modern European history—Winston Churchill. The Spanish author invites the audience to a moral examination by fictionalizing eight historical figures who, in the mid-20th century, shaped Europe’s future—whether through will and criminal egotism, or through obedient villainy, complicity, and, not least, fear, as seen in the entourage of the Russian dictator. / Codruța Popov

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Playwright: Antonio Álamo
Translation: Ioana Anghel
Artistic Direction: Irina Moscu
Scenography: Irina Moscu (set design), Sabina Reus (costumes)
Music & Sound Design: Claudiu Urse
Choreography: Alina Ilea
Video Design: Andrei Cozlac
Lighting Design: Cristian Șimon

Cast:
Adolf Hitler, Hrușciov:    Matei Chioariu
Eva Braun: Cristina Rotaru Chiperi
I.V. Stalin: Ion Rizea 
Winston Churchill: Cristian Szekeres
Beria: Cătălin Ursu
Pavlov: Teodor Cauș
Birse: Andrei Chifu
Bulganin: Marin Lupanciuc
Malenkov: Bogdan Spiridon

Duration: 2h15', no break

Age restrictions: 16+
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