THE ODD COUPLE by Neil Simon translated to Romanian by Antoaneta Ralian, opens on Sunday, 27 February 2011 at 7pm. The production is directed by Cristian Hadji-Culea, set designer Valentin Codoiu.
Cast: Olive - Miriam Cuibus; Florence - Irina Wintze; Sylvie - Elena Ivanca; Mickey - Patricia Boaru; Renée - Eva Crişan; Vera - Ileana Negru; Manolo - Dan Chiorean; Jesus - Ruslan Bârlea.
Born on 4 July 1927, in Bronx, New York, Neil Simon started writing plays in 1960. His first play, Come Blow Your Horn was published in 1961. It was followed by Little Me, the play that got him his first nomination for a Tony Award, then Barefoot in the Park which four years later was performed on Broadway and then turned into a film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Another successful play is The Odd Couple, initially written for a male cast, which premiered on Broadway in 1965. Gene Saks turned the play into a film in 1968, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. 30 years later, Howard Deutch created a sequel to this film, with the same actors and theme, The Odd Couple II. The success of the play determined Neil Simon to write a version with female characters in 1985.
In the play, the owner of a 6 bedroom apartment, a TV news reporter, invites over her friend for a board game. Florence „has cards from 47 stores" and if she does no shopping in the next 8 hours, "New York will close down". Renée is Sylvia’s game partner, and Vera is teamed with Mickey. Olive open-heartily invites Florence to move is when she breaks up with her husband. Olive’s bohemian life ends when Florence, a maniac of order and cleaness and a fan of high-class cocking takes over the house. A double date organized by Olive with two Spanish brothers, Jesus and Manolo, fails because of Florence. Florence has to move... in the apartment of the two brothers.
