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“Ivanov” (1887) captures the moral and existential crisis of Nikolai Ivanov, a young landowner overwhelmed by debt, trapped in a lucid apathy, like a provincial Hamlet. Once an idealist, he becomes aware of the failure of his own life, yet is incapable of acting or finding any meaning in it. His marriage to Anna Petrovna, gravely ill, falls apart against the backdrop of Ivanov’s indifference to her suffering. In an atmosphere of suffocating provincialism, rumors, and hypocrisy, Ivanov vainly seeks a zest for life in his attraction to the young Sasha. Neither the promise of a new love nor his wife’s suffering can stir him, because the true source of his disorientation lies not in external circumstances, but in his own exhausted spirit.

“In an era of Instagram psychology and a form of individualism that erodes any sense of belonging, in a constant pursuit of a ‘balanced’ life, today’s Ivanov is suffocated by expectations and by the need to satisfy others.

Ivanov is not a hero. He is, by definition, an outsider; he does not fit established patterns, he is emotionally marginalized because he still believes in the mysterious pleasure of living in the moment. At the same time, he is indulged and a victim of his own existence, yet paradoxically also a tormentor of those for whom he feels carnal, spiritual, and familial love. Ivanov is a creature, a soul tormented by its own fears and by the ghosts of the past.

In continuity with my current formal explorations, at the intersection between theatre and film, and within the ambiguity of exposing reality between truth and fiction, together with my creative team and the actors of the Craiova National Theatre company, I have explored a concept of dramatic deconstruction meant to shake both the performative and technical mechanisms of classical theatricality.” — Eugen Jebeleanu

An X-ray of inner exhaustion, in an unconventional reinterpretation of Chekhov’s masterpiece.

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Translation and adaptation: Raluca Rădulescu

Scenography: Velica Panduru

Music: Rémi Billardon

Lighting design: Sabina Reus

Cast & crew:

Nikolai Alekseevici Ivanov – Vlad Udrescu

Monica Ardeleanu, Gabriela Baciu, Alex Calangiu, Iulia Colan

George Albert Costea / Cătălin-Mihai Miculeasa

Ramona Drăgulescu / Romanița Ionescu

Corina Druc, Sorin Gruia, Geni Macsim, Claudiu Mihail

Mircea Mogoșeanu, Raluca Păun, Marian Politic

Costinela Ungureanu, Cătălin Vieru

Producer: Teatrul Național „Marin Sorescu” din Craiova