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Starting March 13, 2025, on the stage of the "Ion Caramitru" Hall, you are invited to see Secondary, a new production written and directed by Alexandra Badea. This is her third staging at the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre in Bucharest, after "The Romania Complex", based on a text by Mihaela Michailov (2008) and her great success with "Exile" (2022), the director based in Paris for over two decades, awarded at only 43 with the French Academy Award for Theatre for her entire activity (!), returns with a new highly personal proposal: the play Secondary - staged on the main stage of the theater, a gripping psychological thriller. Theater in theater and film in theater, the new performance crowns some of the recent searches and favorite themes of the talented writer: the relations of domination and power, psychological abuse, the existential crisis that can be caused by a traumatic event... In a world that today is in more acute turmoil than ever, Alexandra Badea's Secondary is a reflection of the structural insecurity we are going through, which also imagines alternatives to the current impasse. The spectators will find themselves in the eight characters, concerned with gaining the recognition of others, by weighing the qualities that recommend them for one part or another.... We each find ourselves in search of a leading role, whatever the situation. Alexandra Badea was interested, also in the preparation of this performance, to dialog first, during dramatic improvisations, with the future cast. Having grown up in a world of the image, dominated by television and surveillance cameras, portable video cameras and telephones that replace the traditional video camera, the director enriches the scenic universe with video images according to a personal drama concept. "A six-camera installation surveils the characters in the most intimate spaces in which they are not supposed to enter, capturing moments of vulnerability in which social masks fall away and the characters lose control over the image they have constructed. Intimacy is annulled", warns the author, who uses the process to bring to the fore not only the actors' gazes, but also the characters' thoughts and ambivalence, through a lively dialog between theater and film, creating a powerful visual universe. The cast of the show includes well-known actors of the theater: Diana Dumbrava, Crina Semciuc, Ada Gales, Cosmina Olariu, Emilian Oprea, Alexandru Potocean, Istvan Teglas, Mihai Calin and Marius Bodochi (voce). The director, who has several important awards to her credit, including the prestigious French Order "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres" (2016), says that these actors from the TNB company - which she wants to explore further - could and deserve to be on stage anytime alongside actors from the Comédie Française, the Barbican or the Schaubühne. The following have contributed to the realization of the performance, achieving the other essential components of the production: Cosmin Florea - Scenography, Calin Topa - Sound design, Cristian Simon - Lighting design, Boróka Biró - Director of photography. The first performances will take place on March 13, 14, 15 and 16, 2025, at 19.00, at Ion Caramitru Hall. In April, the performance is scheduled for Thursday 24, at 7: 00 pm., at 19.00, at Ion Caramitru Hall. In April, the performance is scheduled for Thursday 24, at 7: 00 pm. Tickets are available at the ticket office of the I.L. Caragiale National Theater in Bucharest and online at www.tnb.ro.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

Called by critics - "The Theatrical Event of the Year", the performance Mary Stuart, directed by Andrei Serban has no less than seven nominations for this year's UNITER Awards!   - Best performance: "Mary Stuart", adaptation by Robert Icke after Friedrich Schiller, directed by Andrei Serban, set design by Helmut Stürmer, costumes by Corina Gramosteanu, I.L. Caragiale National Theatre in Bucharest- Best Director (Lucian Pintilie Award): Andrei Serban- Best Actress in a Leading Role: Raluca Aprodu for Elisabeth I- Best Supporting Actor: Florin Aioane for Mortimer- Best set design: Helmut Stürmer for the decor and Corina Gramosteanu for the costumes- Best music: Alexei Turcan- Best video design: Andrei Cozlac The 33rd edition of the UNITER Awards Gala will take place on Monday, May 26, 2025 at the "Amza Pellea" Hall of the "Marin Sorescu" National Theatre in Craiova More details here  Congratulations to all nominees and good luck!!!   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

Starting February 14, 2025, you are invited to the Studio Hall to see The Prophet Elijah (Prophet Ilya) by Tadeusz Słobodzianek, the play chosen by director Botond Nagy for his second staging at the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre in Bucharest, after "The Word Progress on My Mother's Lips Doesn't Ring True" by Matei Visniec. The works of Tadeusz Słobodzianek (director, playwright, theater director) are among the most original in contemporary Polish drama and have been awarded prestigious Polish literary prizes. Among his best-known creations is the stage tript consisting of the dramas: “Tsar Nicholas” (1985), “The Prophet Ilya” (1992), and “Death of a Prophet” (2011). “The Prophet Ilya” is based on information published by Włodzimierz Pawluczuk, a sociologist and religious scholar, who described the phenomenon of the Prophet Ilya in his 1974 study centered on the figure of Eliasz Klimowicz, an eccentric man who lived in the northeastern Polish region of Białystok in the 30s and 40s. A reportage about the end of the world; the story of a group of people who broke away from the Greek Orthodox Church and tried to build their own world in a small godforsaken village. Klimowicz, who owned only one book - the Bible - and all he knew about the world was information he heard by word of mouth, proclaimed himself the biblical prophet Ilya. He built an Orthodox church in a settlement called Wierszalin, where he founded a New Jerusalem and soon gathered a group of devoted followers. After some time, Ilya announced that the end of the world was near. His faithful followers awaited the apocalypse, but as their wait seemed to be in vain, they decided to help by hastening the course of history. They resorted to the familiar crucifixion scenario and nailed the prophet to the cross just like Jesus. So Ilya's story also becomes the story of a group of people who wanted to change the world by trying to make their dreams come true. Playwright Słobodzianek explains: 'I was interested in this story because, like a crystal ball, it mirrors all the utopias we have lived through during the 20th century: Christianity, communism and nationalism, the mixing of different cultures, nations, languages and religions. We seem to have entered the 21st century with this burden, and there is no indication that we will be able to escape it - on the contrary, it seems to be getting more and more overwhelming. The Prophet Ilya is a play that explores the problems of racial hatred and bigotry, nightmares that continue to haunt us despite some fair denunciations. For Botond Nagy "The Prophet Elijah" is "a provocative and cheeky text", "an unbelievable story in XIV scenes" (the author's subtitle), with 14 characters, a tough story, which the director dresses in an image focused on light. "Everything is very comic and at the same time very painful". With this new production, Botond Nagy invites us to a deep and sincere meditation on faith and religion. If the God of Słobodzianek's drama died with Nietzsche's statement, yet He exists in the love and humanity in which the young director continues to believe. Not recommended for people under 18 - for known reasons (licentious language and scenes with sexual connotations), Tadeusz Słobododzianek's play in the stage reading signed by one of the most exciting directors of the young generation in Romania comes at a time of deep spiritual and moral crisis facing contemporary societies. Richard Bovnoczki, Aylin Cadir, Florentina Tilea, Silviu Mircescu, Emilian Marnea, Razvan Oprea, Ofelia Popii, Florin Calbajos, Lari Giorgescu, Vitalie Bichir, Mihai Calota - well-known names of the TNB stage, who were joined by the very young Leonard Chionac, Oana Laura Gabriela, Teo Dinca. Irina Moscu - Scenography, Diana Nechit - Dramaturg, Claudiu Urse - Original Music and Sound design, Cristian Niculescu - Lighting design and Video design, all had a significant contribution to create the world and atmosphere of the performance. The first performances will take place on February 14, 15, 16 (official premiere) and March 20, 2025, at 19.00 and on March 22 at 12.00. Tickets are available at the TNB box office and online at tnb.ro.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

Exclusive taxi service for NTB spectators The "I.L. Caragiale" National Theater in Bucharest and Meridian Taxi are delighted to welcome the spectators with an initiative aimed to bring a touch of comfort and safety to winter evenings. From January 22, 2025, right after the end of the performance of "The Hanged Man's Forest" (around 10.40 pm), a specially arranged station in the theater's parking lot will offer culture lovers an easy way to continue their evening in peace, without worrying about the cold or the dark. This partnership is dedicated to all those who believe that the magic of performance should not stop when the curtain comes down. Therefore, in order to meet the needs of spectators who attend NTB performances and who often face mobility problems due to traffic jams, both at peak hours (coinciding with the starting times of NTB performances) and at late hours when some performances end, the taxi company Meridian TAXI has recently signed a partnership protocol with the NTB under which it offers an exclusive service with premium advantages of access to taxi on-demand services to NTB spectators, both when they leave the NTB and when they arrive for performances or other events at the NTB: fast order pick-up, immediate access to the pick-up location (located within the perimeter of the NTB parking lot), payment of the ride with POS, synchronization of the flow of available cars with the number of spectators, payment by card in the mobile app, ordering via Whatsapp and Instagram, etc. Thus, based on a QR code displayed in the NTB foyers, spectators will be able to initiate by phone the order of a taxi from the Meridian fleet, immediately receiving the necessary details for the trip, and will be directed to the customer arrival/ pick-up points located visibly in the NTB's outdoor parking lot. Meridian will automatically take NTB customers' orders, directing taxis with priority to this area specially set up by NTB in its own parking lot, hereinafter referred to as the "customer pick-up/arrival point" Upon arrival of the taxis, customers will be validated by the drivers on the basis of the messages received by phone and transported to the desired destinations. Spectators who will use the services of the Meridian taxi fleet to come to the performances and events taking place at the NTB will also benefit from various advantages: payment of the fare by mobile POS, compliance with the mandatory premium equipment conditions of the taxis that will serve this destination. Meridian will offer discounts or bonuses to NTB spectators: for every 4 rides to the National Theater, Meridian will offer a 40 lei voucher (Conditions of use: rides must be ordered from the Meridian application; a user can receive a maximum of 2 vouchers in a calendar month). Taxi to the theater! - here is a slogan about to become reality...   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu