Sweet Bird of Youth

by Tennessee Williams

Direction and musical selection: Alina Hiristea

Set design and costumes: Horațiu Mihaiu

Translation: Alina Hiristea

Stage adaptation: Radu Aldulescu

CAST:

Chance Wayne: Cosmin Dominte

Alexandra Del Lago, aka Princess Kosmonopolis: Delia Lazăr

Boss Finley: Tache Florescu

Heavenly Finley: Iulia Dinu

Miss Lucy: Mara Opriș

Dr. George Scudder: Cristian Olaru

Tom Junior: Florin Georgescu Jr.

Premiere: May 17, 2024, Main Hall
Duration: 2h 30min

14+ Rated

The show Sweet Bird of Youth brings on stage the enchanting atmosphere of the American Hollywood scene, with passionate and aspiring filmmakers, with the fragrance of youth, infused in life stories that remain relevant today, thanks to Tennessee Williams’ genius as a playwright. The show showcases the Tony Bulandra Theatre’s excellent acting team: Delia Lazăr (Alexandra Del Lago), Tache Florescu (Boss Finley) Iulia Dinu (Heavenly), Cristian Olaru (Dr. Scudder), Mara Opriș (Miss Lucy) and Florin Georgescu Jr. (Tom Junior), a team in which the actor Cosmin Dominte has perfectly integrated in the role of the superb loser Chance Wayne.
Life and theatre communicate and intertwine, in a game of mirrors that reveals glimpses of the mystery of the soul that yearns for love, developing an addiction that comes in the wake of other and other disturbing addictions. “You can’t live without love” is the mantra that becomes the backbone of Sweet Bird of Youth.
Diva Alexandra del Lago sings her swan song, Hollywood-style, to the blues, and Chance Wayne, haunted by past mistakes, under the spectre of losing his youth, confronts his own demons and the mob. A chain of dramatic situations, with comic counterpoints, a gripping show infused with youthful nostalgia, passions, addictions and unique charm.
The show explores, holding a mirror up to us, the need for love and affection, frustration in all its aspects, depression, addiction, dreaming, hope, nostalgia, as well as the need for achievement and the instinct to achieve.
Realising that we are not getting any younger can open up the prospect of practising the art of becoming – in the absence of which we witness the harsh confrontation with the traces left by the devastating passage of youth. How lonely and vulnerable are the artists who withdraw from art, struck by a surge of despair caused by the loss of youth, a youth which, for them, is identified with Art.

Alina Hiristea Aldulescu

SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH is presented through special arrangement with The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.