National Theatre "Marin Sorescu" Craiova

June 16, 2025, at 8:00 PM

Under various titles, the play “The Blacksmiths” by Milos Nikolic has been part of the repertoire of several theatres in the country, as well as abroad. The director of the show, Horațiu Mălăele, seems to be "in love" with this play in which he also plays the lead role. 

The original text by playwright Milos Nikolic, born in Kosovo in 1939, tells 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 learns that his son also has as father the Russian Ivan, and Ivan realizes that his son also belongs to... Grigorie! This genetic mess is a consequence of the war because all the men, blacksmiths by trade, were also soldiers at the front. The underlying theme of the play is generously thematic with suggestions regarding the consequences of war and the false trumpet of nationalism which has become a "doctrine" for some current European parties. The comedy is well written by Milos Nikolic and provides the audience laughter amid the troubles of three men of different nationalities who realize that their sons have, genetically, a different nationality. 

However, the adaptation through changing the nationalities of some characters is flimsy. The wives are represented in the text only by Matilda, the wife of the Romanian Grigorie who argues that women did not cheat on their husbands, they only wanted the blacksmithing guild to have descendants. Matilda's argument is conceived by the playwright on a historical basis that after farmers and shepherds, blacksmiths serve as one of the oldest professions 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, as their sons, the 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 scenographer Maria Miu, who has previously illustrated this play at another theatre, with her recognized talent, constructs on stage a blacksmithing shop in detail through specific tools of the trade, complemented by those found in the household of simple people. The decor is enchanting and designed functionally for diversifying the stage movement. Director Horațiu Mălăele humorously develops the story of the three men, being well-versed 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 in the blacksmithing shop with a lantern, in the natural darkness, for “something”; these absurd searches, however, do not find a solid purpose in the subsequent action.

 The four actors remarkably fulfill the characters assigned to them. Maia Morgenstern in Matilda, Grigorie's wife, delivers an excellent performance. The actress develops, with inner conviction, Matilda's struggle to clarify to her husband that she did not cheat on him during the four years he was on the front in Russia, and this is further exaggerated by the emotion of reuniting with Peter. Again, Maia Morgenstern demonstrates that she is an actress of rare complexity and can credibly approach both comic and dramatic genres. 

Horațiu Mălăele nuancedly builds the character of Grigorie, a simple man trying to untangle the threads sparked by Peter's arrival in his family. The actor treats the situation dramatically and, of course, the result is comedic. With a slight Hungarian accent in his speech, George Mihăiță presents Peter as he intensely experiences the emotion of reuniting with Matilda, but also the complicated situation of the revelations. The final intervention of Ivan is excellently portrayed by Valentin Teodosiu, through his demeanor and the support of the relationships with those he encounters. The four actors aptly tell the story of the diligent blacksmiths, simple people to whom the war has left... marks, like many other simple people, living today in a different, confused world in its manifestations.

         “The Blacksmiths” provides an opportunity for comedy to the audience, which should also think afterward, when they take pride in their genesis... from Dacians and Romans. The show remains merely a successful exercise in amusement...

 Cast:  Horațiu Mălăele , Maia Morgenstern, George Mihăiță