Bucharest National Theatre - "Ion Caramitru" Hall

July 31, 2025 at 20:00

Under various titles, the play "Blacksmiths" by Milos Nikolic has been performed in the repertoire of several theaters in the country, but also abroad. The director of the show, Horațiu Mălăele, seems to be "in love" with this play in which, of course, he also plays the main role.

The original text by playwright Milos Nikolic, born in Kosovo in 1939, recounts the story of a German blacksmith who, after a long time, discovers that his son is the child of a Romanian. Horațiu Mălăele adapts the subject and the blacksmith Grigorie is a Romanian who discovers that his son is the child of the Hungarian Peter, who finds out that his son also has the Russian Ivan as his father, and Ivan realizes that his son also belongs to,,, Grigorie! This genetic jumble is the consequence of the war because all the men, blacksmiths by trade, were also soldiers at the front. The underlying theme of the play is generous through suggestions regarding the consequences of the war and the false trumpeting of nationalism that has become a "doctrine" for some current European parties. The comedy is well-written by Mios Nikolic and makes the audience laugh at the misfortune of the three men of different nationalities who find that their sons genetically, in fact, have another nationality. 

Adapting by changing the nationality of some characters is, however, shaky. The wives are represented in the text only by Matilda, the wife of the Romanian Grigorie, who argues that the women did not cheat on their husbands, they only wanted the blacksmiths' guild to have descendants. Matilda's argument, the playwright conceives it on the historical basis that after farmers and shepherds, blacksmiths serve one of the oldest trades attested even in the Bible. These remain the basic professions of simple people. In today's world, however, Matilda's desire to perpetuate the guild fails, because the sons, their fathers say, are no longer blacksmiths, they have chosen other professions. Horațiu Mălăele's adaptation uses the translation signed by Veronica Lăzăreanu, abundant in trivial accents.

         The set designer Maria Miu, who has also illustrated this play at another theater, with her recognized talent, builds on stage a blacksmith's shop in detail through objects specific to the trade, completed by those from the household of simple people. The decor is enchanting and functionally designed for the diversification of the stage movement. Director Horațiu Mălăele develops with humor the story of the three men, being an ace in the field of comedy. The show lasts one hour and ten minutes, of which five minutes are consumed at the beginning of the performance through Grigorie's searches through the blacksmith's shop with a flashlight, in the dark of course, for "something", these absurd searches do not find, however, a consolidated purpose in the action that follows.

 Remarkably, the four actors acquit themselves of the characters assigned to them. Maia Morgenstern in Matilda, Grigorie's wife, delivers an excellent role. The actress develops with inner faith Matilda's struggle to clarify to her husband that she did not cheat on him in the four years he was on the front in Russia, completed also with the emotion of the reunion with Peter. Again, Maia Morgenstern demonstrates that she is an actress of rare complexity and can credibly approach both the comic and the dramatic genre. 

Horațiu Mălăele nuancedly builds the character of Grigorie, a simple man who tries to unravel the threads spun by Peter's arrival in his family. The actor treats the situation dramatically and, obviously, the result is comic. With a timid Hungarian accent in his speech, George Mihăiță presents Peter as he intensely experiences the emotion of the reunion with Matilda, but also the complicated situation of the revelations. The final intervention of Ivan is admirably realized by Valentin Teodosiu, through his demeanor and the support of the relationships with those he meets. The four actors meritously render the story of the skillful blacksmiths, simple people to whom the war has left ... traces, as well as to many other simple people, living today in another world, confused in their manifestations.

         “The Blacksmiths” offers a chance for comedy to the audience, who should then think, when they are proud that their genesis is in …  Dacians and Romans. The show remains just a successful exercise in amusement …

 Cast:  Horațiu Mălăele , Maia Morgenstern, George Mihăiță