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The fourth edition of the Playwriting Workshop led by actor and writer Mimi Brănescu will conclude with a series of staged readings presented between June 2 and 6, 2026, at the Media Hall of the National Theater of Bucharest. Conceived by Mimi Brănescu with the support of the National Theater of Bucharest (TNB), the project reflects, with each edition, the Bucharest National Theater’s ongoing commitment to supporting the new generation of playwrights and fostering their artistic debuts on a professional theater stage.

Mimi Brănescu is the author of several plays that have been staged and well-received on numerous stages across Romania, including “Acasă la tata,” “Dumnezeul de a doua zi,” “Genul acuzativ,” “Ultimii,” and “Family.exe.” Her artistic experience provided workshop participants with access to an authentic and professional perspective on playwriting and the relationship between text and stage.

NTB offers young, emerging playwrights the opportunity to have their first direct encounter with professional actors and the audience. The plays to be presented are: “No Signal” by Diana Amitroaie,  “Under Review…” by Ana Avram, “We’ll Talk Later” by Andrei Barbu, “Fame and Other Addictions” by Anamaria Codiță, “Blood of Your Blood” by Valeriu Ilisie, “By the Sea” by Denis Imbrescu, “In the Lead Role, Nora” by Serin Jemaa, “Black-Hearted Ace” by Laurențiu Lungu, “Semolina with Milk” by Alexia Matei, “The Taxi Cab Theory” by Ioana Niculae, “Hooked” by Aurora Păunescu.

Admission to this series of reading performances is free and requires registration via bilet.ro

The project coordinator, Mimi Brănescu, shared a few words with us about the fourth edition of the workshop, the texts produced as a result, and the meeting with the young authors:

“These texts fall somewhere between ‘I’ve never written anything’ and ‘this is my first important piece.’ They should be viewed as bold attempts. If writing, let’s say, were a four-year course, here you have access to the exam at the end of the first year. My big request would be to try to see not only what is missing—there is a lot missing for these to be great texts—but also what they and their authors might become. Because, in my opinion, you can glimpse a potential author in enough of these fragments.” 

You will witness the outcome of an amateur playwright’s pro bono endeavor—an honest attempt to share with others the few things he has discovered about writing, through the act of writing itself. For those among them who choose to take it further, however, meeting with me will not be enough. I hereby invite those who can do more not to sit idly by. They need encouragement, money, any kind of support. Stand by them, and perhaps in this way, your children and grandchildren will add to the high school curriculum authors whom you yourselves have nurtured.

The criteria by which I selected them were: that they had never written for the theater before and had never participated in another writing workshop. And whatever else I asked them there, as far as my mind and good faith would take me. Because I’m no Garabet Ibrăileanu or Titu Maiorescu myself. It’s common knowledge what I’m like, or it’s easy to find out, since I haven’t kept it a secret.

I thank the National Theater for the generosity with which it hosted us again this year.

Finally, I’d like to note here, in small print, that this group, the fourth, was the last one I mentored. I invite others to do the same.”

The National Theatre of Bucharest will publish the 11 plays resulting from the fourth edition of the workshop coordinated by Mimi Brănescu, offering both theatre professionals and the general public access to dramatic works that emphasize authenticity, direct observation, and the desire of emerging playwrights to transform personal experiences and current themes into theatrical material.

Schedule of the reading performances, NTB Media Hall, June 2–6, 2026:

June 2nd

11 am: Under review... by Ana Avram

1 pm: Black Heart Ace by Laurențiu Lungu

June 3rd

11 am: Fame and Other Addictions by Anamaria Codiță 

1 pm: Milk semolina by Alexia Matei

June 4th

11 am: Blood of your blood by Valeriu Ilisie

1 pm: Hooked by Aurora Păunescu

June 5th

11 am: Out of range by Diana Amitroaie

1 mm: We'll talk after by Andrei Barbu

June 6th

11 am: In the lead role, Nora by Serin Jemaa

1 mm: By the Sea by Denis Imbrescu

3 pm: The Taxi Cab Theory by Ioana Niculae

Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu