News

The National Theatre in Bucharest has prepared a special line-up for this year's 1st and 2nd of May holiday 2024, with no less than eight different performances, for all tastes, dedicated to those who do not leave the city during this period. Whether they love comedies, dramas or music and dance performances, or a touch of romance, the audience will have the opportunity to choose from the most popular shows in the National's repertoire. Among the productions that will be presented on the NTB stages are successful titles and award-winning productions. The Dinner Game, The Word Progress on My Mother's Lips Doesn't Ring True, The Titanic Orchestra and The Anonymous Venetian are the four productions proposed on the first day of May. The Journey, The Country House, The Welkin and The Beauty of Venice in September complete the special holiday program around Easter. In these performances the audience will meet famous names of the Romanian stage, including Maia Morgenstern, Oana Pellea, Horatiu Malaele, Claudiu Bleont, Marius Manole, Mircea Rusu, Tania Popa, Marius Bodochi, Ana Ciontea, Ilinca Goia, Raluca Aprodu, Gavril Patru, Medeea Marinescu, Magda Catone, Lari Giorgescu, Dan Puric and many others. Tickets for these performances are available on tnb.ro or at the box office of the National Theatre, which runs Monday from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm and Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 am to 7.00 pm.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu

At the Abracadabra National Children's Theatre, the performances during the month of Palm Sunday await you with news, pleasant surprises and festive moments. The programming of these interactive productions, designed to give young spectator-actors a premiere every Sunday, invites them to get to know the stories and names of flowers. Some of these names, which many children will be learning for the first time, legend has it that they are linked to the Roman festival Floralia - held in spring. Twenty-three years ago, on the Sunday before Easter, the first curtain-raising took place at the Abracadabra National Children's Theatre in the Atelier Hall of the TNB. Since then, every year there has been a double celebration on Palm Sunday: the Christian feast and the anniversary of the ingenious children's theatre project. From one season to the next, young spectators have been invited to come on stage and play Theatre. Shortly, the performances became an event for the whole family. The children's participation alongside the actors, in the positive roles of the Romanian fairy tales, has awakened the desire of the little actors to always be victorious in the fight against the forces of evil. The association of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest with the Abracadabra Foundation has developed over the years a new theatrical formula, through which the actors highlight the talent of the audience. The children who come on stage and take part in the fairy tale become, by the end of the show, the heroes of the Romanian Stories. Last but not least, these performances recommend that The Theater Game be a successful part of the education of the young. We invite you in April, every Sunday, from 11.00 am, in the Media Hall of the National Theatre, where these event performances will take place. Spring stories will prevail, culminating - on April 28, 2024 - in the double celebration of Palm Sunday. Tickets can be purchased at the National Theatre Box Office and online at tnb.ro.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

At the Atelier Hall of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest, starting April 6, 2024, you can enjoy a new performance, Childhood Memories – one man show performed by actor Vitalie Bichir as part of the tnb.edu program. Far from being a simple dramatization after Ion Creanga, the recital recital conceived and directed by Vitalie Bichir, proposes to spectators of all ages, a nostalgic foray into the world evoked by the great storyteller, adding to it some ingredients related to the personal biography of the actor, also from Moldavia. The ingenious scenario combines, for the first time, excerpts from the well-known Childhood Memories with pages from the 1883 textbook The Schoolmaster of Children (a reading book including anatomy lessons for the primary grades), authored and co-authored by Ion Creanga. The happy happenings of childhood, narrated with talent and a special emotional involvement by the actor, who transforms himself, one by one, into each of the characters played, receive an ironic counterpoint by juxtaposition with didactic explanations (supported by projections). These explanations are extracted from amusing anatomy lessons formulated in the sweet Moldovan language, in which the mysteries of the functioning of the human body are described in an understandable way, in the spirit of the time. A relevant moment for the construction of this one-man-show can be found, for example, at the intersection of the well-known story of Irinuca's goats, a source of scabies for the young apprentice who came from Humulesti, and the description of this arachnid - taken from the textbook of the time, in the words of the time. The show awakens in each of us, the adult spectators, the longing for our parents and our native places, through this incursion, full of tenderness and emotion, into the innocent world of childhood. And for young students who may have difficulties reading the "compulsory" reading of Childhood Memories, the performance at the Atelier Hall of the National Theatre offers another "key" to reading, opening the door to the universe evoked with such talent by Nica of Stefan al Petrei from Humulesti...., alias Ion Creanga! Actor Vitalie Bichir celebrates, on the occasion of this recital, 30 years since graduating from acting school! The first performances of "Childhood Memories" will take place on April 6 (premiere) and April 7, 2024, at 7pm, and the next performance is scheduled for May 25, 2024. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at the NTB Box Office and online at tnb.ro.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

The National Theatre Bucharest "I.L. Caragiale" announces the start of rehearsals for "Hedda Gabler", directed by Thomas Ostermeier. One of the most important European directors, known for his contemporary approach to classical plays and politically and socially challenging productions, Thomas Ostermeier is staging a production in Romania for the first time and will bring Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler to NTB's Ion Caramitru Hall. The cast of the show includes actors Raluca Aprodu, Crina Semciuc, Ana Ciontea, Richard Bovnoczki, Alexandru Potocean, Marius Manole and Lari Giorgescu. The creative team is composed of Jan Peppelbaum (sets), Ruxandra Busneag (costumes), Malte Beckenbach (music), while Sebastien Dupouey was in charge of the video design. Thomas Ostermeier, a leading figure in contemporary theatre, artistic director of the famous Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz in Berlin, associate artist of the Avignon Festival, holder of the Europe Prize for New Theatrical Realities, is the creator of more than 50 performances in Germany and worldwide. From 1992 to 1996 he studied directing at the "Ernst Busch" Faculty of Acting in Berlin. In addition to numerous awards for individual productions, such as the Friedrich-Luft Award (Measure for Measure), the Grand Prix de la Critique and the Barcelona Critics' Prize (Hamlet, 2009), Thomas Ostermeier received the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale in 2011 for his entire work. He has been awarded the title "Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. "Hedda Gabler" is a play written by Henrik Ibsen around 1890, considered by most critics to be representative of 19th century dramaturgy. The official premiere of "Hedda Gabler" will take place on April 13, 2024, at the Ion Caramitru Hall of the National Theatre in Bucharest.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu