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In early December, this year, on the stage of the National Theatre of Bucharest, Chekhov - the most original playwright of his time - meets the vision of one of the most unconventional and talented theatre directors in Romania, Radu Afrim.

After five other shows created on the theatre stages, including the exceptional enactment with "The Forest of the Hanged" from the end of last year, Radu Afrim is preparing a new show, "Three Sisters" - an un(naturally) free script after Chekhov. The preview will take place on December 3rd and 4th, 2019, and the official premiere on December 5th, 2019, from 7.30 pm, in the Studio Hall.

It is well known that Afrim rarely stages classical dramaturgy, preferring contemporary texts or original scripts. However, when he does, he proposes extremely personal and exciting upgrades, with a strong impact on viewers. The worlds recreated by him after classical texts aroused controversy, even disturbed, but his shows did not leave anyone indifferent.

Radu Afrim challenges the audience again, offering a remix of a classical play, hallucinating and extremely topical revival of a story told hundreds of times, a powerful, original and shocking show that, like all Afrim brand creations, will draw viewers out of their comfort zone. Far from the settings in which the spirit of Russia is rendered through clichés, "Three Sisters" by Radu Afrim proposes a surrealist vision, a mixture of absurd, humour, grotesque, but also of deep sensitivity, which places the story of the three sisters in contemporary Romania. In his new show from NTB, Afrim creates a universe that is molded on the receptivity of the contemporary audience, with obvious references to the present, but which integrates so well into the world imagined by Chekhov over 100 years ago.  

"I took the liberty to read the thoughts of the three sisters. And Andrei's. And to transcribe them word for word. I mean, I scribbled over the silence between their old words for over a hundred years. My people reflectincessantly. They are sick with thoughts. No spleen. And it would be ideal for them to act. They are already beginning to take action. I took several liberties. I would call them interventions in (almost) still life. Or a little adrenaline in the vivarium. And yet I could not change their destiny. Should I perceive this detail as a failure of mine? ”, Radu Afrim.

The show boasts a cast comprising some of the most famous actors of the moment: Raluca Aprodu, Natalia Calin, Flavia Giurgiu, Marius Manole, Emilian Oprea, Irina Movila, Istvan Teglas, Ada Gales, Ciprian Nicula, Florin Calbajos, and is performed in collaboration with a team of innovative artists, with whom Afrim constantly collaborates: Irina Moscu - stage design, Andrei Cozlac - video design, Calin Topa - sound design.

The following performances are scheduled for December 28th and 29th, 2019, from 7.30 pm.

Translated by Simona Nichiteanu