The Land of Goofs

“Dan Tudor’s show chooses to focus on the clown’s perspective, on the confrontation between the tyrant and Lulu, the revolted jester, who shakes things up, breaks order. (…) Nicolae Vicol in the role of Gufi creates an excellent composition, a bonhomie with cruel, villainous and ridiculous accents, and Angel Rababoc – Lulu is a perfect partner. And more than the country of the blind is the country of pretenders, to reinforce this impression, the couple Bubi (Nicolae Poghirc) – Zeno (Ştefan Cepoi) second Gufi’s appearances, they are actually the jesters on duty (…) The pretext is, as in any story, the princess’s marriage, but, in this modern fairy tale, the princess refuses the marriage, in fact rejects everything. Iola is the most extravagant character, a spoiled doll, mindless, emotionless, and one of the most powerful images is the one in which she is unsuccessfully taught to laugh, the strange sounds, forced, the face distorted by effort, to which Alexandra Francu gives a special expressiveness in this complicated game of self-discovery.

The suitors' episode is the funniest, we laugh at them and, together with them, we empathize with the mess they find themselves in. Firfirică, Gârneaţă and Ţonţonel connect with the audience, they are authentic clowns, not buffoons (…) Adrian Tudor (Ţonţonel), Răzvan Rusan (Gârneaţă), Emilian Teofil Stănică (Firfirică) play with the emphasis and exaggeration necessary for physical comedy. (…)

Gufi's Country, the country of the blind, the country of diminutives, is a show as relevant now as when it was written – a veiled critique of the system that accepts no criticism. And theater is more convincing when the buffoon rebels and laughs and resists.

Daniela Firescu, GufiGufi and the Jester: resistance, revolt and laughter/ Ramuri, no. 4/2025 http://www.revistaramuri.ro/index.php?id=6348&editie=229

The play Grumpy's Country was written during the communist regime in Romania, a period marked by political oppression, censorship and control over freedom of expression. Grumpy's Country is a play that tells the story of a fantasy world, populated by strange and funny characters, where reality and fantasy intertwine in an unexpected way. The play combines humor with moments of deep reflection, exploring themes related to the human condition, freedom and conformity, in a metaphorical way. The action takes place in a dreamlike universe, where the characters live in a world controlled by Goofy. The play is a reflection on power, manipulation and loss of identity in the face of authoritarian systems.

"The director's condition is one of performer and the second of creator. I would like Gufi's Land imagined by me to look as Matei Vișniec thought, not to lose its soul and the meaning of the author's writing, because he caused this joy of getting me involved in this project and then, at the level of scenic fantasy, to belong to me.

The Land of Goofy is a country where dandelion fluff flies and is not seen, where clouds are in the sky but cannot be seen, where the moon, the sun, the stars exist, but people cannot enjoy these wonders, until a certain moment when someone "lifts their eyelids".

There is a spiritual bridge over the years… three decades ago, upon graduating from college, the monologue The Prompter of Fear made me fall irremediably in love with the writer Matei Vișniec, but our recent meeting triggered another curiosity: what is that piece of writing by Matei Vișniec that would need me to achieve the spectacular dimension desired by the author?! The answer is Gufi's Country, our show, which was born from the childish desire to discover as many situations imagined or provoked by the author's exceptional text as possible, with constant care for its candid, playful dimension.

If you are necessarily drawn to what is bad and put the wrong emphasis, you may lose the humor, the charisma of the characters, the special condition of the language with many tasty wordplays, with Romanian proverbs, from this play that falls into a category of difficult-to-translate texts.

The meeting with the fantastic actors of the Craiova National Theatre triggered the choice of this text, becoming one of the most beautiful and happiest artistic events of my directorial career, an incredible joy."

Dan Tudor

Gufi's Country – a personal story with… interpretation

"Over 40 years ago, when I wrote Ţara lui Gufi, Romanians saw no light on the horizon and depression was general. For me, literature meant the only space of freedom, and subversive texts the only form of resistance so that the brainwashing operated by the communist regime would not become total."

Gufi's Country is my only play that stubbornly resists translation. There have been attempts, including my own, but too much of the flavor of the linguistic inventions is lost.

I am as happy as an old child that director Dan Tudor is “reciting” this play of my youth on stage and that the production is hosted by the “Marin Sorescu” National Theatre in Craiova. The Craiova stage has brought me other joys since 1989. For it, for example, I wrote the play Occident Express in the context of an interesting program proposed by the European Theatre Convention.

Returning to Gufi and my story set in an imaginary country of the blind… To be honest, never since the fall of communism have I been as afraid as I am today that new forms of blindness are possible. From this point of view, what I wrote over four decades ago remains perfectly valid as a message: if we do not know how to open our eyes, we will not know one day how to open the cage in which blindness will lock us.”

Matei Vişniec 

“The show unfolded like a comic fairy tale for today’s adults, a story with dark humor and current echoes that the audience followed with delight. The stage version is fluid and elegant, capturing the metaphorical essence of the text without sacrificing either the rhythm or the linguistic richness of the play. The show strikes with its poetic and ideational density, offering not only an abstract allegory but also a contemporary warning about the dangers of manipulation and the loss of individual freedom. (…) The set design, created by Lia Dogaru with the support of Adelina Galiceanu, evokes a dreamlike space – a gray realm where dandelion fluff floats unseen, clouds hang unnoticed, and the moon and sun exist beyond perception. It is a visual metaphor for the “land of the blind” imagined by Vișniec (…) The result is a playful but sharp staging, a balance between farce and allegory.

Nicolae Vicol is the mainstay of the cast as Goofy, the enigmatic figure who dominates this strange realm. His presence is powerful, yet elusive and nuanced, a puppeteer whose influence is felt more than seen. Vicol plays him with restraint, humor and vigor, but also with pauses and sideways glances that say more than words – a choice that keeps Goofy from becoming a caricature.”

Alexandra Ares, A country of unseen wonders: "The Land of Goofs" at the National Theatre Craiova / Rinocerul, March 10, 2025 https://revistarinocerul.ro/o-tara-a-minunilor-nevazute-tara-lui-gufi-la-teatrul-national-craiova/

"The action of this parable takes place in an imaginary country where the blindness of the people in the face of unacceptable realities is assumed through fear. The show begins with an impressive moment in which the emperor of the blind, Gufi, praises blindness, through an anthological monologue that raises the bar of the play very high, even having a Shakespearean density. In this forest of metaphors, a great actor, Nicolae Vicol, advances, through exhibitionism. (…)

Lulu, sunny as a moral Prince Charming and faced with reaction, with the brutal Dragon-King, is a force of good that defies and defeats the forces of evil, being played with great charm by Angel Rababoc, standing out for the lyrical and scientific way in which he tries to extract the unfortunate bride Iola, very well played by Alexandra Francu (...)

Each scene is striking and all together create a kaleidoscopic allegory. The show contains a huge dose of grotesque and masked realism through which, in fact, the current blindnesses are revealed, but also a lot of comedy in the scene of the three suitors. (…) Ţara lui Gufi‒ a historical show, excellently acted, directed to perfection, a beautiful success with a one hundred percent Romanian text.”

Dinu Grigorescu, A relatively absolute premiere that Marin Sorescu would have liked too: "The Country of the Goblins" at TNC / Rinocerul Magazine, March 13, 2025 https://revistarinocerul.ro/o-premiera-relativ-absoluta-care-i-ar-fi-placut-si-lui-marin-sorescu-tara-lui-gufi-la-tnc/

"Gufi's Country" acts on two major fronts. The first is the allegory of dictatorship, simple in essence, but skillfully hidden by Vișniec in the guise of an initiatory fairy tale plot. If blindness is another word for stupidity, then Gufi's Country is Romania or the USA or any other country on the globe where the rulers, not too clear-sighted either, encourage and profit from the stupidity of the citizens. (…) It's about metaphors and the effort to decode them. But all this effort has increased the feeling of the sublime that envelops the moment, wonderfully choreographed, when Iola, wonderfully played by Alexandra Francu, discovers the wonderful colors."

Iulian Fira, The one-eyed man is a tyrant in the land of the blind / Theatre, March 9, 2025

• “In a pregnant playful register, finished in detail, but without blurring the parabolic subtext, director Dan Tudor built the charming show with Țara lui Gufi by Matei Vișniec at the National Theatre in Craiova. (…) Without a doubt, the pivot of the show was Nicolae Vicol, in a memorable role. A goofy, self-satisfied, gongoric, expansive and extroverted Goof, perfectly controlling the things around him, with an inflexible firmness. Everyone else swarms around him, trying to please him: the ridiculous advisors through flattering unctuousness Bubi and Zeno (the delicious duet Nicolae Poghirc and Ștefan Cepoi through their playfulness), capable of the greatest mischief (…)
Țara lui Gufi is a show that makes you laugh a lot, in which the parable is felt gradually, like a warning, but the sign is clear: don’t lose your innocence, but keep your eyes open open! A successful, endurance show by the Craiova National.”

Claudiu Groza, With eyes wide open, Tribuna magazine,
https://tribuna-magazine.com/cu-ochii-bine-deschisi/