Projects of the National Theater in Bucharest

Located in University Square in downtown Bucharest, the “I.L. Caragiale National Theatre is a landmark in the capital cultural life, but also a major tourist attraction.

România Internațional, 13.04.2013, 19:35

Located in University Square in downtown Bucharest, the “I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre is a landmark in the capital cultural life, but also a major tourist attraction. Of late however, the building has undergone several changes. The fresh outlook of University Square will surprise anyone who hasn’t visited Bucharest in the last couple of years. Theatregoers are also in for several surprises with respect to changes in the access to and design of theatre halls.

In 2010 the over-debated and controversial renovation works kicked off. In the 2012-2013 season, the Amfiteatru, 99 and Atelier halls were disused, while shows continued to be performed only in the Grand Hall and in the recently opened Small and Media Halls. Director of the National Theatre Ion Caramitru has recently held a press conference in order to give an update on the latest architectural and artistic developments at the institution he runs.

“Whereas in the first two years, from March 2010 to this day, the main objective of the building team was to remove the old façade, reinforce several hundreds of props in the foundation, pour cement slab flooring, this year construction works will move to more delicate activities, such as finishing consolidation works for the most elegant hall, one we have chosen to call the Painting Hall for the time being, which will be opened right after Easter. The construction team also plans to add the last touches to the Studio Hall, the former performance hall of the National Operetta Theatre, which will go into use starting September. By then we need to move all the shows from the Grand hall to Studio Hall”.

The most popular and audience-friendly hall, the Grand Hall, is scheduled to undergo serious changes. Ion Caramitru again:

“The Grand Hall will seat 909 people and will remain a classical theatre hall. The famous wooden framing dating back to the Ceausescu regime will be removed, while the official box will remain the same, although it will be flanked by baignoires on its left and right. There will be fewer seats for the audience on the ground floor, because Ceausescu tried to expand the width of the hall in order to broaden its surface, yet sacrificing several anti-seismic supporting diaphragms. Therefore, there will be baignoires on the sides, which will add to the intimacy of the hall. People will feel more like in a theatre hall instead of a conference hall”.

The new venues that are due to open this year, the Painting Hall and Studio Hall can be arranged depending on requirements of the performance. The seating can be designed observing Elizabethan, arena or Italian patterns. The Media Hall is already functional. It is not designed as a performance hall per se, but it is rather aimed at hosting various events — conferences, temporary exhibitions, high-profile meetings. It may still be used to host performances. Anyone curious to find out more about the new design of performance halls can access the website of the National Theatre, www.tnb.ro, where they can take a virtual tour of the new performance venues.

The Bucharest National Theatre devoted 2012 to Romanian playwright I. L. Caragiale. The celebration was marked through a series of special events, while the main goal was to stage only plays by Caragiale. A number of directors put on plays that year, including Silviu Purcarete, Alexandru Dabija, Radu Afrim, Horatiu Malaele and stage choreographer Gigi Caciuleanu. It was a highly successful project. For having organized the Caragiale Year, Ion Caramitru, as general director of the Bucharest National Theatre, has been granted this year the Theatre Award at the Radio Romania Culture Awards Gala. For the same project, the Bucharest National Theatre has been awarded the Excellence Prize by the Theatre Union in Romania. The dance theatre show entitled “D’ale noastre”, directed by Gigi Caciuleanu to mark the Caragiale Year is among the projects of the Bucharest National Theatre in 2013. The institution’s deputy director, actress Ilinca Tomoroveanu, tells us more about those projects:

“Rehearsals on The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol, directed by Felix Alexa are under way at the theatre’s Big Hall. Neil Simon’s Rumors will also be premiered this autumn. The Media Hall venues rehearsals for Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love directed by Claudiu Goga, while the Painting Hall hosts director Mircea Cornisteanu rehearsing the Little Inferno by Mircea Stefanescu, featuring exceptional actors such as Tamara Buciuceanu-Botez. The play The Man Who Saw Death, by Victor Eftimiu, directed by Dan Tudor will also have its opening this autumn but right now the artists are still working on it in the Small Hall. There is another production that we hope will be a hit with the audience. It’s Ibsen’s Rosmersholm, directed by Andryi Zholdak at the Painting Hall or at the Studio Hall. “D’ale noastre”, the dance show I have previously mentioned, directed by Gigi Caciuleanu, will go on a tour to Sofia, Bulgaria. After having enjoyed great success in Brussels, Paris and London, we try to organize an international tour with this show.”

There is another project of the Bucharest National Theatre that continues in 2013 as well. The Theatre’s general director, Ion Caramitru, tells us more about it:

Ion Caramitru: “Open Doors for All, is a project we set up for the actors who don’t get the chance to perform that often or who want to experiment. Hall 99, which still undergoes repair works, will be all theirs. As many as 6 projects have been submitted, of which we have picked an independent theatre project, experimental theatre in fact, on texts written by Peca Stefan. When Hall 99 is completely refurbished, a rehearsal room, a storage room for set design items and costumes and of course, a technical team will be entirely devoted to that experiment. Its initiators will have four weeks to rehearse and seven consecutive evenings to present their show to the public. Access is free of charge.”

The Bucharest National Theatre will host several other interesting events. On April 7th, the Sofia-Based Ivan Vazov National Theatre will perform “Don Juan” by Moliere . Between May 30th and June 2nd, the Millesime Association for Wine Culture and Civilization is staging, in the theatre’s foyer, the first edition of the Days of Wine Culture and Civilization and the first edition of the Romanian Wine Gala. Also, from September 25th until November, the Media foyers will host painter Emil Ciocoiu’s exhibition.

Another great news for theatre lovers is that as from this month tickets to the shows of the Bucharest National Theatre are available online.