Bucharest’s National Theatre Festival brings together 88 performances for its 36th edition
The 36th edition of the National Theatre Festival in Bucharest features 88 performances, including an official selection of 36 productions from the latest theatre season
Roxana Vasile, 22.10.2026, 14:00
The National Theatre Festival (FNT), currently under way in Bucharest, is celebrating its
36th edition this year. A major cultural initiative funded by Romania’s Ministry of Culture, the festival is organised by the Romanian Theatre Union (UNITER).
Running from 16 to 25 October, the ten-day event invites theatre enthusiasts to discover 36 productions selected from more than 150 shows staged during the 2025–2026 theatre season.
Bringing together a wide range of artistic perspectives, theatrical approaches and themes, this year’s programme revolves around the overarching theme “[…] perfectly human”. It invites audiences to reflect on perfection and imperfection, vulnerability, and the ways in which we define our relationships with others, society and technology in the contemporary world.
The 36 productions in the official selection, however, form only the core of a much broader programme. The festival also features performances and events grouped into several strands, each exploring a distinct artistic direction. Altogether, 88 performances will take place across 24 venues in the Romanian capital.
The Republic of Moldova is represented by two productions from Chișinău: Richard III, adapted for the stage and directed by Petru Hadârcă, a production of the Mihai Eminescu National Theatre, and Macbeth, directed by Slava Sambriș and produced by the Luceafărul Republican Theatre.
Meanwhile, the FNT Educational programme, now in its fifth edition, offers schoolchildren and teenagers opportunities to engage with theatre. The programme also includes talks, workshops and discussions exploring the relationship between theatre and education.
Opera and operetta also have a place in the festival through its Dialogue of the Arts strand. The programme features productions by the Bucharest National Opera, including Georges Bizet’s Carmen, with stage direction and lighting design by Ada Lupu Hausvater, and Léo Delibes’s Lakmé, directed by Andrei Șerban.
The Ion Dacian National Operetta and Musical Theatre is also represented, with Romeo and Juliet, directed by KERO, alongside The Elixir of Love, directed by Laura Maria Vlădoiu and hosted by the theatre.
The festival’s international dimension is reflected in Migration Diary. New York City Edition, a multimedia performance by Carmen Lidia Vidu, produced by New York’s La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in partnership with the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. The international programme also includes further events organised in collaboration with cultural institutes based in Bucharest.
Beyond the stage productions, this year’s National Theatre Festival offers more than 50 additional events designed to encourage dialogue between artists and audiences.
These include staged readings of plays developed through a Romanian playwriting competition, as well as translations of contemporary dramatic works proposed by cultural institutes. The programme also encompasses debates, talks, exhibitions, book launches, performance installations, meetings with artists, radio drama productions and televised theatre performances.
Together, these events underline the festival’s commitment to artistic diversity, cultural exchange and the continuing relevance of theatre in contemporary society. (MI)
