The Open Couple

by Franca Rame and Dario Fo

Directed by Borislav Borisov

Set and Costume Design – Maria Dimanova

Choreography – Yulia Kolova

Cast – Tsvetana Gorkieva, Kalin Kostadinov

The Open Couple is a play that brings together comedy, drama, romance and farce—all the ingredients of an intensely charged and thrilling marriage. The story revolves around Antonia, a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown because of her husband’s love affairs. The idea of having an open marriage is prompted by the husband’s firm conviction that monogamy is a terrible thing. But will he still feel the same way when, after a series of twists and turns, Antonia finds love in the arms of another man?

The world-famous Italian playwright Dario Fo wrote The Open Couple in 1983 in collaboration with his wife, Franca Rame. She was also the first actress to portray Antonia. The provocative themes and painfully candid dialogue between the spouses scandalized society and challenged the moral conventions of the time when the play began gaining momentum. It reveals problems from the heart of family life—problems carefully concealed or ignored.

In his interpretation of The Open Couple, actor and, in this case, director Borislav Borisov focuses on marital relationships between men and women, not as stereotypes, but as individual universes which, in this particular case, never intersect. The aim is for the audience to immerse themselves in someone else’s marriage and perhaps recognize something familiar—something that inspires them to appreciate their own partner more.

Adults