CIS News

The “I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre in Bucharest announces a new premiere within the 9G Program at NTB, dedicated to young independent artists: Contractions by Mike Bartlett, directed by Alexandru Andrei, scenography by Ruxandra Preda, with Elisa Pirvan and Ioana Tanasa in the cast. The premiere will take place on Saturday, June 14, 2025, 19.00, at the Sala Mica Hall. Mike Bartlett is one of the promoters of the ‘golden generation’ of British drama of the last twenty years. A playwright and screenwriter for film and television, Bartlett was nominated for BAFTA awards for the TV series The Town and Doctor Foster and is known for plays such as Cock (Olivier Award in 2009), Medea, Bull, An Intervention and King Charles III (adapted for the BBC in 2017) and Contractions (nominated for TMA Best New Play in 2008), many of which have been performed in Romania. Bartlett's texts stand out for their raw, incisive realism in exploring personal and workplace relationships in contemporary society - illustrated in CONTRACTIONS, which explores the intrusion of large corporations into the private lives of employees. Built in two characters, the play starts from a seemingly banal situation - a discussion between a high-performing employee in the company and her overbearing boss - which gradually turns into a suspenseful questioning. A contract clause is revealed with potentially devastating effects on the employee's private life. What would happen if our personal lives were conditioned and put under strict supervision by the management of the company we work for? The performance of the young creative team of the 9G program at the TNB suggests a lesson in which the risk of employee brutalization in the corporate world does not seem at all remote. The performance is not recommended for children under 14. Produced by the Center for Theatrical Creation and Research “Ion Sava”, within the 9G Program at NTB.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu