Theatre
Apus de soare
Not translated into English
Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea · 1909
Synopsis
Moldavia, 1503. Stephen the Great, wounded and gravely ill, is treated by the physician Jeronimo da Cesena and wants to secure the throne for his son Bogdan. Some of the boyars, around Ulea, refuse the war he is preparing for Pokuttya, in the name of custom and the peace of the country, and do not like the heir; according to Gabriela Colipcă, the conspirators are thinking of giving the crown to Ștefăniță, the prince's grandson. Oana, Stephen's natural daughter, overhears their talk.
Context
First part of a historical trilogy, completed in 1910 by Viforul and Luceafărul according to the Lithuanian Encyclopedia, the play was premiered in 1909; Constantin Nottara played the role of Stephen. In Sămănătorul, on 1 March 1909, Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică reports that the audience had split into two camps and that the newspapers had been harsh; he defended the sharpness of the characters and the dramatic force of the work, admitted faults aside. Gabriela Colipcă has compared it to Shakespeare's Henry VIII.
Who it is for
A historical drama in Romanian, centred on a sick prince and his succession; no known French translation.
Prizes and reception
According to Tribuna Învățământului, the Nottara Theatre in Bucharest successfully staged it again in the late 2010s.
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The pages consulted to check this page.