The war on the Dniester in 1992 in the contemporary drama of Moldova

Abstract

Bessarabian playwrights, at the turn of the centuries, addressed several taboo subjects, such as it was and still is the Dniester War of 1992. However, the evocation of this event that has already become history served as the pre/subtext of the following dramatic texts: Saxofonul cu frunze roşii/Saxophone with red leaves by Val Butnaru, staged at ”Luceafărul” Theater (1998); the plays by C. Cheianu Noi/We, staged at ”Luceafărul” Theater (1994), and Ţara asta a uitat de Noi…/This country has forgotten us…, at the National Theater ”Satiricus I. L. Caragiale” (2011); Fata cea mută a început să vorbească/The dumb girl started talking by D. Crudu, Teatrul Radiofonic România (2013); Tără(z)boi by Mariana Starciuc staged in Satu Mare, Iasi, Piatra Neamţ (2018); Valsul Tancurilor/Tanks’ Waltz by Irina Nechit staged at the National Theater ”Satiricus I.L. Caragiale” (2020). The scenes of the texts, written in different registers, alternate from deep drama to overwhelming tragedy, the amalgam of realism and fiction being, however, nuanced. Of an overwhelming topicality, these dramatic works are not only chronicles, but also open files in which the characters play the role of participants, witnesses, prosecutors, lawyers, executors. Thus, these plays are a true history lesson provoking the touching of sensitive chords and reviving the memory of present and future generations.