News

As of 20 September, the National Theatre of Bucharest greets you to a new season packed with cultural events!   The 2016-2017 season of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre of Bucharest is opening with The Dinner Game, the highly successful French comedy of Francis Veber enacted by Ion Caramitru. One of the most beloved shows of the theatre, seen by tens of thousands of Romanians, shall have two representations, on 20 and 21 September 2016, as of 8.00 p.m., on the Grand Stage. And because we find ourselves in the Shakespeare Year, and the protagonist of The Tempest, created by the Bulgarian Alexander Morfov with NTB actors, is Ion Caramitru, appointed by the British Council - Shakespeare Ambassador in Romania, we must recall that on 1 and 2 October, as of 7.30 p.m., you are expected to witness a surprising Tempest, as only the magicians of the stage know how to stir. Many other beloved shows return to the theatre bill, starting with 20 September: The Suicide, Little Hell, Anonymous Venetian, The Idol and Ion Anapoda, Sentimental Tectonics, A Midsummer Night’s Dream etc. Alongside the shows already enjoying the audience’s attention, among which we shall also recall the premiere closing the 2015-2016 season, Medea, My Mother by Ivan Dobcev, the first artistic collaboration from a broader programme, following the NETA Festival, which took place at NTB in last year’s fall, many other reportorial projects, as well as invitations to numerous festivals prove a rich and attractive repertoire, with elitist values and cornerstone creations. The new season brings back to the billboard the name of the Georgian David Doiashvili, and not only for an evening. He is the director who offered us, in the opening of the NETA Festival, a dreamy performance, with Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Invited at the Bucharest National Theatre to enact King Lear by W. Shakespeare, the ambitious artist, who imposed worldwide the name of Georgian theatre, opted for a young cast, with Mihai Constantin in the spotlight. The premiere is scheduled for the end of this year, in the Grand Hall. In October, the play by Radu F. Alexandru The Light at the End of the Tunnel shall première in the Black Box Hall. Directed by Mircea Cornişteanu, actors Monica Davidescu / Iuliana Moise, Constantin Cotimanis, Alexandra Poiană and Dragoş Stemate make a date with you and a highly topical satire. Towards the end of the month of October, premiering in the Studio Hall, the third enactment by renowned Bulgarian artist Alexander Morfov on the NTB stages is about to be launched. After The Visit and The Tempest, a new challenge: No Man’s Land by Danis Tanović (maybe you have seen the Oscar awarded film for best foreign movie in 2001!). In the cast of his new enactment, you shall encounter young and very young performers of the Romanian stage, alongside well-known actors of the Bucharest National Theatre. In the Black Box Hall, director Felix Alexa is going into rehearsals, with a text by Eugène Labiche, The Lourcine Street Affair, starring Marius Manole, Istvan Teglas, Mihai Calotă, Raluca Aprodu, Victor Ţăpeanu. Until the end of the year, two other new shows are scheduled to come into the limelight. At the Studio Hall, we shall encounter the play by Matei Vişniec, Old Clown Wanted, directed by Ion Caramitru, starring three of the youngest actors of the troupe: Petre Ancuţa, Emilian Mârnea, Forin Călbăjos. Under the dramatic auspices of the text, we do not doubt that the three musical comedians shall continue their competition in this sensitive area, between drama and music, which brought them enthusiastic applause, in ActOrchestra and Magic National. Within the framework of the 9G Programme at NTB, at its third edition and hosted by the Small Hall, the season is starting with two new titles: We Are the Last Five, after Samuel Beckett, directed by Dragoş Alexandru Mușoiu and The Girl Soldier by Mihaela Michailov, directed by Silvia Roman. For the NTB actors, the following months shall abound in tours and festivals. On 17 September, L᾽Om Dada, directed by Gigi Căciuleanu and The Lesson, directed by Horaţiu Mălăele, participate in the Reunion of National Theatres of Chişinău (13-21 September). The festival in Sfântu Gheorghe is featuring on 17 September No Matter How Hard We Tried, directed by Radu Afrim. On 22 September, The Memory of Water, directed by Erwin Șimșensohn, shall be on the stage of the Brăila Festival. From 24 to 29 September, Gigi Căciuleanu’s show L’Om DaDa shall be enacted in Paris, London and Brussels. On 27 September – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, directed by Bobi Pricop, participates in the Festival of Oradea, and on 11 October, in Iaşi. Tania Popa plays on 8 October The Girl from the Rainbow at the SOLO Festival from Moscow. Magic National starts the series of tours, the first being in Cluj on 10 October, followed by Bacău, on 21 October. Three of the NTB shows participate from 21 to 30 October in the National Theatre Festival: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, after a novel by Mark Haddon, No Matter How Hard We Tried by Dorota Masłowska and L᾽Om Dada by Gigi Căciuleanu. NTB is hosting a representation of the National Theatre of Bratislava, on 29 September, with The Shepherd’s Wife by Ivan Stodola, an unconventional enactment of a classical title of Slovak dramaturgy, with characters which seem to have been drawn from ancient tragedy. At the Small Hall, from 29 September to 15 November, you can admire the exhibition of Andy Warhol, a famous artist with Slovak roots. Both events are organised in collaboration with the Slovak Embassy in Bucharest, on the occasion of the first Slovak Presidency to the Council of the European Union. Also on 29 September, in the Media Hall, as of 6.00 p.m., the cultural and humanitarian association "Memory and Hope" invites the audience to a first encounter. The new exhibition hall of NTB facing the Carol Blvd. shall host in the period 10-20 September the third edition of the International Photography Festival Bucharest Photoest, with special guests from Morocco, France and Italy. Under the auspices of the Architecture Triennial East-Centric – second Drifting edition, from 16 September - 9 October, a series of events shall be hosted by the Media Hall (conferences), shows (Small Hall), as well as exhibitions in the theatre foyers, at the Studio and Media Hall. And in the current season, the Sunday matinees shall invite the smallest theatre spectators to act in the shows of the National Theatre for Children, and the Conferences of the National Theatre, dedicated to a mature audience, shall have as guests personalities of the Romanian cultural and scientific life. At the theatre ticket booth, the first tickets of the season have been put up for sale, as well as online, on Mystage.ro. The halls of the National Theatre of Bucharest, renovated and rehabilitated, are expecting you to discover a new theatre for a new audience! Translated by Simona Nichiteanu

Ion Caramitru, the General Manager of the „I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre of Bucharest has been distinguished, by the Committee of the „Actor of Europe” International Theatre Festival, with the honorary title Actor of Europe for his lifetime achievement.     The „Actor of Europe” International Theatre Festival is held every year, for 13 years, in Prespa, Macedonia, in the region of the eponymous lake, situated between Macedonia, Albania and Greece, declared by the European Parliament European Cross-Border Park. The President and founder of this festival is the renowned playwright, novelist and script writer Iordan Plevnes (author, among others, of the play Cyril and Methodius, Who Are You?!, presented for the first time at NTB within the NETA festival in 2015), at the same time founder (in 2007) and rector of ESRA – the first private university of audiovisual arts from Macedonia. On the same occasion, this ”University of Audiovisual Arts, European Film Academy, ESRA Paris-Skopje-New York”, among the Festival organisers, shall grant Ion Caramitru the title of Honorary Doctor, whereas the winners of this title already count personalities like film directors Manoel Pinto de Oliveira and Jiří Menzel, theatre director Alexander Morfov, singer Charles Aznavour or actor and script writer Jean-Claude Carrière. (http://www.esra.com.mk/doctor-honoris-causa1.html) The ceremony of awarding is scheduled for 6 July 2016, in the opening of the Festival, and the laudatory speech shall be held by the famous critic George Banu, Professor at the Sorbonne and Honorary President of AICT.                                      For additional information Web: www.actorofeurope.net / www.esra.com.net   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

The preview of the show The Light at the End of the Tunnel, by Radu F. Alexandru, directed by Mircea Cornişteanu, starring Constantin Cotimanis, Dragoş Stemate, Monica Davidescu / Iuliana Moise, Alexandra Poiană, shall take place on the days of Tuesday 14 June 2016, as of 6.30 p.m. and Wednesday, 15 June 2016, as of 8.00 p.m. A bitter comedy on political cynicism and the scammers of our times, on love offered in exchange of the party membership card, on infidelities validated by surveys and on corrupt mentalities is expecting you at the Black Box Hall! On Wednesday 15 June 2016, as of 8.00 p.m., in the Painting Hall, the recent premiere Medea, My Mother is performed for the last time in this season, by Ivan Dobcev as author and director, with a cast consisting exclusively of young actors, taking you from topicality to the world of myth and metaphor, a polyphonic enactment, juggling with an exceptional carousel of sound, courtesy of Bulgarian composer Assen Avramov. The last show of the current season shall take place next weekend in the Small Hall, hosting the 9G Programme at NTB, dedicated to young theatre creators: on Sunday 19 June 2016 - Organic, as of 8.00 p.m.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

A triumphant show, both inland and abroad, which has been performed for 10 years on the stage of the National Theatre of Bucharest, Don Quixote after Miguel de Cervantes, directed and interpreted by Dan Puric, returns to the stage of the NTB Grand Hall on Sunday, 22 May, at 08.00 p.m. A welcome tribute to the great Spanish writer in the year of his comemmoration (400 years since his death).   Don Quixote is not only the adventurer searching for the shattered ideals of mankind, he is also the man in love with the woman of his dreams beyond the real one. He embellishes mankind, while the latter mocks at him. A Christ closer to our times, as he appears to us in the exceptionally plastic vision of Dan Puric, Don Quixote is a banner of that nobility which does not allow to be trampled upon. „If someone looked at Romania through the eyes of Sancho Panza, he would realise that it is a lost country, incapable to react to history, to say the least; if however he looked through the eyes of Don Quixote, Romania is a mystery...”. (Dan Puric). The show of Dan Puric, director and performer of Don Quixote, is intended for the contemporary spectator through the language of pantomime and dance. The odyssey of the famous hero of Cervantes crosses the world according to a fantastic choreographic script, revealing everywhere a humanity in a state of collapse. The way the artist sees him, „Don Quixote is the last Christian sigh of the West”. Alongside the protagonist, famous actors of the Bucharest National Theatre and the „Passe Partout Dan Puric” company shall guide you into an incredibly beautiful and bleak world, the one of the wandering Knights, whose souls light up the dark.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

One of the most innovative contemporary theatrical centres, dedicated to the research and exploration of complex ways of scenic expression, the Sfumato Theatre Laboratory of Sofia, Bulgaria, managed by Margarita Mladenova and Ivan Dobcev, has presented within the framework of the NETA International Festival, in the fall of 2015, under the "umbrella" and organisation of the National Theatre of Bucharest, a stimulating contemporary outcry of the ancient myth, Medea, My Mother, by Ivan Dobcev, considered as one of the most interesting shows of the Festival. Directly inspired from the acute problems of the contemporary Balkans, the text, enacted by the same two directors – Ivan Dobcev and Margarita Mladenova, returns now to the National Theatre of Bucharest in a stage version performed this time by young Romanian actors. Polyphonic at all levels – of the story, of language, visual, musical, the challenging show Medea, My Mother, starting from a material of the type coverage -documentary, focuses on the painful history of three women. Dramatic game of abandonment and child trafficking, Medea, My Mother is a warning regarding the dangers of contemporary world, the loss of the sacred status of maternity, the dehumanisation and reduction of life to mere survival. Two types of civilisations collide, that of Western Europe with the vital, primitive, seductive, cruel, guilty and at the same time naïve world of the Balkans. The show of the renowned Bulgarian directors from Sfumato shall impress you through the gravity of facts, the depth of investigation, through the monologues requiring utmost acting prowess, through the ingenious scenography, signed by Ivan Dobcev himself, but also through the excellent musical moments, vibrating with rhythm and colour (composer Assen Avramov). In the cast: Alin Potop, Ionuţ Toader, Florentina Ţilea, Aylin Cadîr, Ilona Brezoianu, Mădălin Mandin, George Piştereanu, Ionuţ Niculae şi Bianca Drăgoi (violin), Emilian Ciobanu (accordion), led with a firm hand by the two Bulgarian directors. We invite you not to miss the new show of the National Theatre of Bucharest, for all these virtues and not last, for the fact that these stories could have happened in Romania; if they are not already happening…                                              First performances: 20, 21, 22, 25 and 26 May 2016, 8.00 p.m., in the NTB Painting Hall. Premiere for the press: 22 May 2016, 8.00 p.m.

No Matter How Hard We Tried, this original and clever game, double game, between what is and what has been, between what has been and what could have been …, imagined by Dorota Maslowska, the „enfant terrible” of contemporary Polish literature, was enacted by the „I.L. Caragiale“ National Theatre of Bucharest, with ingenuity, nerve and humour by Radu Afrim, a crowd pleaser, achieving wide critical acclaim. Not long ago, the show was included, through two nominations, in the UNITER Awards, which we shall discover on 9 May 2016, through live broadcast from Oradea. The characters Apathetic Old Lady and the Actor, both featuring, practically unrecognisable, Marius Manole and the Little Metal Girl and The Director, of Dorina Chiriac, bring back their performers to your attention, of those who have seen the show. This, before the decision of the final jury, composed of prestigious theatre personalities, Alice Georgescu, Mircea Morariu, Ozana Oancea, Viorica Petrovici, Alexa Visarion. You are the addressees of the Interactive Campaign for promoting artists in the competition for the UNITER trophy. By the way, „Who is the winner for you? ”If one of these performers or maybe both of them have touched your heart, do not hesitate to vote for them. „The campaign offers the possibility to the wide audience to support their favourites on the website www.uniter.ro”. Actor Marius Manole from the National Theatre of Bucharest has been nominated with these parts from No Matter How Hard We Tried for Best actor in a Supporting Part, and Dorina Chiriac, at her very first collaboration with the National Theatre of Bucharest on the occasion of this enactment, has been proposed for Best Actress in a Leading Part. Have you seen them in these parts? Did they enchant you, amaze you, did they stimulate your thoughts and feelings? Then, do not forget, the vote of the audience awaits you!   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Distinguished with the Laurence Olivier Award in 2000, The Memory of Water by Shelagh Stephenson is also staged in Romania, after a series of successful international enactments (from London and Munich to Chicago and New York), premiering (for the press) at the National Theatre of Bucharest on 6 and 7 May 2016, as of 8.00 p.m., in the Painting Hall, under the direction of Erwin Şimşensohn, scenography by Alina Herescu and original music signed by Vlaicu Golcea. The Memory of Water invites you on a journey, slightly uncomfortable, to everyone’s inner world. A show for the soul, fluid but also slippery, about family relationships, about rediscovery and acceptance out of love, with sinuous roads, twists and frustrations, a dramatic odyssey with moments of crazy humour, in which you shall be guided by the actors: Cecilia Bârbora, Medeea Marinescu/Natalia Călin, Raluca Aprodu, Diana Dumbravă, Marius Manole, Andrei Finţi. The memory of life and the memory of water seem to fuse in this show, in the small universe threatened to be, one day, swallowed by the waters... "I have never imagined, declares the authoress, that people want to laugh and I have not known how much they needed to laugh! Even in a play speaking about loss, pain, sadness, anger. I have finally understood that people want to experience extreme states. They want to cry, to laugh. And especially, they want to experience both within the same ... show. Only this is how I can explain the tremendous and unexpected success from Finland to the USA, from Japan to Israel and anywhere in the world". The Memory of Water was enacted for the first time in 1997 at the Hampstead Theatre of London, has known a cinematographic version, in the year 2002, entitled "Before You Go", with Julie Walters in the cast, and is the first play of the authoress. Shelagh Stephenson is as appreciated for her radio drama. At BBC, she had a series of notable achievements, among which Five Kinds of Silence (1996) was rewarded with the Writer's Guild Prize for Best Original Radio Play and with the Sony Award for Best Theatre Play. Among Erwin Şimşensohn’s previous achievements, disciple of directors Cătălina Buzoianu and Felix Alexa, let us recall the courses graduated in 2003 at the National University Of Theatrical And Cinematic Arts, followed by a workshop of theatrical anthropology, with Eugenio Barba, in Denmark, and several shows in Bucharest and throughout the country: Kidnapping Francesca by Dario Fo, 2002, the Youth Theatre of Piatra Neamţ, Born Guilty by Ari Roth, 2003, The Monday Theatre at Green Hours, Yentl by Isaac Bahevis Singer, 2013 and Visiting Mr. Green by Jeff Baron, 2014, at the Jewish State Theatre, The Nameless Star by Mihail Sebastian, National Theatre of Târgu-Mureş, Holiday Games by Mihail Sebastian, “Maria Filotti” Theatre of Brăila and The Belgrade Trilogy by Biljana Srbljanovic, “Fani Tardini” Drama Theatre, Galaţi – the last three produced in 2015, as well as the recent premiere with The Anniversary by Jeroen van den Berg, from the “Mihai Eminescu” Theatre of Botoşani. The first encounters of the show The Memory of Water with the audience have been scheduled for the days of 26 and 27 April, as of 8.00 p.m., in the Painting Hall.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Two young actors shall be awarded by the British Council on the occasion of the UNITER 2016 Gala. This year, the traditional prize offered at every edition of the UNITER Awards Gala ever since 1998 aims at challenging young actors to re-read Shakespeare and invent him on stage in brief performance moments. Thus, the British Council, under the leadership of Nigel Townson, at the initiative and under the authority of Shakespeare Ambassador Ion Caramitru (OBE – Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire), is launching the Shakespeare 400 National Audition, within the framework of the “Shakespeare Lives” Programme undertaken by the British Council. The ones eager to take part in the audition must be 35 years old at the most and perform a one-woman show / one-man show on Shakespearean texts, of up to 20 minutes. Candidates must send to the e-mail address auditieshakespeare400@yahoo.com a resume, the name of the chosen scenic fragment and its duration. The deadline for enrolment is 26 April 2016. The audition shall take place in the timeframe 4-7 May 2016, at the „I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre of Bucharest, whereas the winners shall be rewarded within the UNITER Awards Gala to be held in Oradea, on 9 May 2016. 2 (two) awards with an individual gross value of 4500 lei shall be bestowed on an actress and an actor. Furthermore, the two recitals will be added to the repertoire of the Small Hall of the „I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre of Bucharest.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

The Critics` Awards 2016 have been offered by The Romanian Section - Theatre Studies of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) on April 23rd, at the International Shakespeare Festival in Craiova. The prizes were awarded to Ion Caramitru, an emblematic shakespearian actor for the role of Prospero in The Tempest at The National Theatre "I.L. Caragiale" Bucharest, and to Emil Boroghină, the Director of the International Shakespeare Festival in Craiova, a succesful cultural event, which celebrates its 10th anniversary. The jury consisted of the members of the board of IATC - Theatre Studies: Ludmila Patlanjoglu (Honorary President), Octavian Saiu (President), Monica Andronescu (Vice-president), Irina Ionescu (Secretary General), Maria Zărnescu, Cristiana Gavrilă (members).   Laudatory speech This year, Ion Caramitru has been appointed – by the British Council - "Shakespeare Cultural Ambassador" in Romania. A well-deserved title. Ion Caramitru is an actor with Shakespearean calling. He has graduated from the Theatre Institute with Hamlet, and throughout his long and brilliant acting career, he left his imprint on parts in legendary shows: Romeo from Romeo and Juliet, directed by Vlad Mugur, Octavius din Julius Caesar, directed by Andrei Şerban, Ferdinand from The Tempest, directed by Liviu Ciulei, Feste the Fool from Twelfth Night, in the vision of Aureliu Manea, the anthological Hamlet under the direction of Alexandru Tocilescu, role which has propelled him into the top 10 best performers of the famous character, of all times, worldwide. Caramitru also encountered Shakespeare in two experimental scenic proposals: the absolute premiere with Edward III, directed by Alexandru Tocilescu, and the study-production Macbeth of Radu Penciulescu. The shadow of Great Will has followed him also in his capacity as a director. He staged two remarkable productions: The Merchant of Venice and Othello with a prestigious theatre company from Japan. In The Tempest from the National Theatre of Bucharest, shortlisted for this edition of the Shakespeare International Festival of Craiova, Ion Caramitru impersonates Prospero. A providential character for great actors and directors: from Kean, Michael Redgrave, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, George Constantin, Peter Brook, Giorgio Strehler, Liviu Ciulei. It is a providential character for Ion Caramitru, as well. The image of Prospero-Caramitru is striking. A domestic appearance, in shabby clothes, with dishevelled hair and a moustache, recalling Einstein. We all recognise a marketing image of a scientistic century, over which the spectres of the nuclear bomb and the Apocalypse are hovering. Interesting is the evolution of Ion Caramitru’s performance from the premiere, under the pressure of the worldly tempest. For a moment, the island becomes, towards the end, a monk’s cell in which Prospero-Einstein faces the Universe and Divinity. In Ion Caramitru’s utterance of the famous monologue, we feel „the charmed and heart-rending reverie” of Shakespeare. His presence animates, fills the enactment, at the end, with a sacred emotion. Master of ceremony and raisonneur of the show, the actor shocks however during the applauses, when he tears off his moustache. The hidden unrest, like a prophetic gesture for the tempestto come, dissolves. In confused and violent times, theatre becomes a privileged space for reconcilement and light, for a world threatened by the spectre of the Apocalypse. Ion Caramitru’s designation by the AICT – Theatre Studies for the Critics’ Award 2016 rewards the art of an emblematic Shakespearean actor, ennobling at the same time the jubilee of the ten editions of the Shakespeare International Festival of Craiova and the quatercentenary celebration since the passing away of William Shakespeare.                                                           Ludmila Patlanjoglu Honorary President AICT – Theatre Studies

As every year, on Palm Sunday, at the Abracadabra National Theatre for Children, there is a double celebration, alongside the traditional one, and without bearing a flower name, it is also the day of this project so popular among the children. The shows dedicated to the youngest of the Bucharest National Theatre spectators, one of a kind, imagined and conducted by actor Marian Râlea, known to the children as the Magician of Stories, joined by his assistants, are celebrating 15 years at the National Theatre of Bucharest. The children from the debut of this project, nowadays teenagers, the young of yore, are invited on Sunday to the theatre, to rejoin their beloved hosts, guides to the realm of wonderful fairytales teaching you that the good always wins and that every child can become a Fairytale Hero. For seasons in a row, on Palm Sunday, since 2001 to the present day, the shows of the National Theatre for Children have been enchanting hundreds of spectators, both among the little protagonists and among their parents and grandparents. Here, at the National Theatre for Children, ensuing from an ageless story and a traditional holiday, the scenario of each premiere comes to life thanks to the children from the audience, trained by the actors to overcome their fear and to unleash their imagination. For 15 years, discovering the road to the story, through the Theatre Game, the children have learnt to love it, and the way to NTB is already familiar to them. On Sunday, as of 11.oo a.m., at the National Theatre of Bucharest, the parents are kindly invited to witness the show of the little ones, assisted by the Magician, the Grandmother of Stories and the Less Fat Clown. „After almost two hours of playing the Theatre game, the applauses of the parents, their smiles, the joy and happiness of the children performing on stage, turn each encounter into a family event, narrates the Magician of Stories in a letter which you can read on the Facebook page Sundays at the Abracadabra National Theatre for Children. We are inviting you, says further the popular actor, all of you who have been our loyal spectators and are now grown up, to send us pictures and memorabilia since you were viewers, Game-Actors, if you have time and feel inclined, we would love to have you with us in the hall as well. The spring stories and holidays carry on. The whole team is thinking about you and sends you „best wishes of health to everyone and especially those baptised with the name of the Victory-Bearer, the Great Martyr Saint George”. The last shows have been dedicated to the stories of flowers, in anticipation of the great Palm Sunday. To the ones bearing names of flowers: Happy name day!   We are expecting you on Sunday, to the anniversary of the Abracadabra National Theatre for Children!   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu