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After a record-breaking season, which counted no less than 18 premieres, the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre opens its new season on September 17, 2023, with projects supported by directors whose presence was long awaited by the NTB Company. Tompa Gabor started rehearsals with the play "Tango" by Slawomir Mrozek (assisted by Andrei Both, sets and costumes by Angela Balogh-Calin), with a brilliant team of actors including Rodica Negrea, Emilia Popescu, George Ivascu, Mihai Constantin, Emilian Oprea, Catalina Mihai, Maruca Baiasu, Matei Constantin. The premiere is scheduled for mid-October. Silviu Purcarete returns to NTB after eleven years, together with his faithful team of collaborators (Dragos Buhagiar - scenography, Vasile Sirli - music), to stage, in an absolute premiere, Radu F. Alexandru's play "Gertrude", "one of the most daring lines given to 'the great Will' in universal dramatic literature" (according to Razvan Voncu). The director opted for a cast composed exclusively of male actors (Claudiu Bleont, Mircea Rusu, Marius Manole, Alexandru Potocean, Marius Bodochi, Paul Chiributa and Lari Giorgescu), and the premiere scheduled for the end of October is probably one of the most awaited of this season. Two important titles from the great universal drama are also in the process of being developed, which in turn herald the promise of successful performances. Director Gelu Colceag has begun rehearsals for Bertolt Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera" (set design by Liliana Cenean and Stefan Caragiu, choreography and stage movement by Roxana Colceag), a well-known musical that will showcase not only the acting skills but also the vocal and physical abilities of a formidable cast of actors, accompanied by a live orchestra: Marius Manole (as Mackie Sis), Mircea Rusu (as Mr. Peachum) and, in order of cast, Silviu Biris, Tania Popa, Aylin Cadir / Teodora Calagiu, Medeea Marinescu, Emilia Popescu / Raluca Aprodu, Rares Florin Stoica, Ovidiu Cuncea, Alexandru Georgescu, Mihai Verbitchi, Orodel Olaru, Silviu Mircescu, Mihai Muntenita, Daniel Hara. In November, at the Atelier Hall, the premiere of Henrik Ibsen's "Nora" directed by Chris Simion-Mercurian, with Irina Movila in the title role, alongside Ioan Andrei Ionescu, Serban Pavlu, Tania Popa and Conrad Mericoffer. Set design will be by Maria Miu and choreography by Ioana Marchidan. The show will be produced in partnership with the "Grivita 53" Association - "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre. Some of the performances that were released at the end of the previous season will be revived in the first days of the new season: Arthur Wing Pinero's comic burlesque fantasy "The Magistrate", directed by Dan Tudor at the Ion Caramitru Hall, will have its official premiere on 1 October 2023, and Oana Pellea's disturbing confessional performance "Silent Escape", "based on the text and experience of a human phenomenon by the name of Lena Constante", will be available to share with the actress in the Atelier Hall from 28 September 2023. The "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest has been invited again this year to the Meeting of Romanian National Theatres in Chisinau (8th edition, which will take place under the title "So close"), where it will present, on September 22 and 23, 2023, two new performances from the NTB's current repertoire: "Histrionics" by Thomas Bernhard, directed by Alexandru Dabija and "The Welkin" by Lucy Kirkwood, directed by Gelu Colceag. The Ion Sava Creation and Research Centre of NTB will continue to organize workshops with personalities of the theatre world. Thus, from September 15 to October 15, 2023, a theatre directing workshop led by director Silviu Purcarete will take place, whose theme will consist of a studio/workshop on Scene II, Act I of William Shakespeare's play "Richard III". The workshop is aimed at professional directors (theatre directing studies, bachelor's or master's degree). It also continues with a new phase, the documentary theatre workshop, led by director David Schwartz, on the theme of Personal Development Practices. The workshop, which began in March with the research phase, is structured over a one-year period and will culminate in a performance in spring 2024, based on a script developed by the renowned director. The season of exhibitions hosted in the NTB foyer also gets reopened, with the premiere presentation of the costume and set sketches of Vasile Velisaratu (1895 - 1978), former painter and set designer of the National Theatre of Bucharest, a necessary restitution effort thanks to the artist's granddaughter, the graphic artist Liana Axinte and the heirs. The schedule of NTB performances can be found on the theatre's website, www.tnb.ro Tickets can be purchased both online and at the recently reopened Ticket Office. In response to the requests received from the audience, the National Theatre has unified the starting time of the performances, scheduled from now on (with rare exceptions) at 7 pm.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

  The performance Exile, directed by Alexandra Badea, in the official selection of the 35th edition of the National Theatre Festival – NTF 2023! In Exile, "Alexandra Badea draws the traces of some disturbing political events in the present of those seeking an emotional reconciliation with the past. Probing the extremely sensitive theme of belonging, theatrically constructing intertwining temporal planes, Exile is a performance-interrogation on the confrontations between macro-history and personal histories weakened by inherited silences, ruptures with visible wounds, removals and returns to places that still hurt, memories of women who carry with them traumas in search of healing words", says the UNITER text. The NTF curators' argument The curatorial team of NTF 2023 (Mihaela Michailov, Oana Cristea Grigorescu and Calin Ciobotari), following the screening of more than 150 performances premiering in the theatrical year 2022 - 2023, in state and independent theatres, opted for a series of productions they considered relevant to this year's theme: NTF, laboratories of the sensitive. The general principles that have guided our choices are:- the quality of artistic research of the performance- the atmosphere of a theatre laboratory- the potential for growth- representativeness- ethical component- the interests of the audience The National Theatre Festival is produced by UNITER Association - The Romanian Theatre Union. Co-producer: Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB - Cultural Centre of Bucharest. NTF is a cultural project funded by the Ministry of Culture. Partner: Romanian Cultural Institute. Co-producer: Romanian Television. Traditional partner: Radio Romania. More details can be found on the official website of the Festival - www.fnt.ro   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

On December 1, 2022, a new series of online broadcasts of NTB, Podcasts of the National Theatre of Bucharest, began. You can see the video version of our podcasts on the well-known TNB-TV channel  You can listen to the audio podcasts, online and offline, by searching for Podcasts of the National Theatre Bucharest, on the platforms: Buzzprout   Spreaker  Spotify   Google Podcasts  RedCircle  Sticher    Subscribe to the podcasts of NTB on one of the platforms, download the app on your phone or tablet and you can listen to our podcasts on a bi-monthly basis. Podcasts can also be found on the NTB blog at: BlogTnb   The National Theatre Podcasts - A theatre that talks to you! Episode #10 with Ilinca Goia. All the episodes are available here.