At the end of the year, another good news from NTB! The open-air amphitheater, the theatre stage located on the roof of the building of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest, will be open to the public in 2024, for the entire summer period between the theatre's two regular seasons, thanks to the support provided by PPC Energie Muntenia SA: You will be able to see at the NTB Amphitheatre, quality performances by established artists, but also productions by young independents. Theatre, music, dance and film will come together in this unique theatre space in Romania this summer, bringing spectators a high quality summer cultural season right in the center of Bucharest. Many thanks to PPC Energie Muntenia S.A. for supporting the summer season of the National Theatre in Bucharest!   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

At the Atelier Hall of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest, starting April 6, 2024, you can enjoy a new performance, Childhood Memories – one man show performed by actor Vitalie Bichir as part of the tnb.edu program. Far from being a simple dramatization after Ion Creanga, the recital recital conceived and directed by Vitalie Bichir, proposes to spectators of all ages, a nostalgic foray into the world evoked by the great storyteller, adding to it some ingredients related to the personal biography of the actor, also from Moldavia. The ingenious scenario combines, for the first time, excerpts from the well-known Childhood Memories with pages from the 1883 textbook The Schoolmaster of Children (a reading book including anatomy lessons for the primary grades), authored and co-authored by Ion Creanga. The happy happenings of childhood, narrated with talent and a special emotional involvement by the actor, who transforms himself, one by one, into each of the characters played, receive an ironic counterpoint by juxtaposition with didactic explanations (supported by projections). These explanations are extracted from amusing anatomy lessons formulated in the sweet Moldovan language, in which the mysteries of the functioning of the human body are described in an understandable way, in the spirit of the time. A relevant moment for the construction of this one-man-show can be found, for example, at the intersection of the well-known story of Irinuca's goats, a source of scabies for the young apprentice who came from Humulesti, and the description of this arachnid - taken from the textbook of the time, in the words of the time. The show awakens in each of us, the adult spectators, the longing for our parents and our native places, through this incursion, full of tenderness and emotion, into the innocent world of childhood. And for young students who may have difficulties reading the "compulsory" reading of Childhood Memories, the performance at the Atelier Hall of the National Theatre offers another "key" to reading, opening the door to the universe evoked with such talent by Nica of Stefan al Petrei from Humulesti...., alias Ion Creanga! Actor Vitalie Bichir celebrates, on the occasion of this recital, 30 years since graduating from acting school! The first performances of "Childhood Memories" will take place on April 6 (premiere) and April 7, 2024, at 7pm, and the next performance is scheduled for May 25, 2024. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at the NTB Box Office and online at tnb.ro.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

  Starting with the month of April 2016, on the website of the ”I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre, a totally exceptional virtual tour can be accessed, in the form of an interactive documentary film, consisting of 310 panoramas, enabling the navigation of the NTB building, inside and outside, before, during and at the end of the restyling works of the theatre building. The material published on the website further includes the virtual presentation of the sceneries of six performances from the NTB production of the last years: Scourge, The Avalanche, Master Leonida Facing the Reactionaries, Lottery Tickets, The Cherry Orchard, The Visit. The time frame for the creation of the 310 published panoramas (accomplished in the period 2010-2016) has been estimated to over 1500 hours and approximately 30.000 separate photographs have been used. The high-resolution images enable the study of the spaces in detail and from a bird’s eye view, presenting the users even areas inaccessible to the audience (workshops, dressing rooms, the costume stock, the off-stage area etc). The application is accompanied by a brief ”visualisation guideline” in Romanian and English. Not lastly, the publishing of this complex virtual tour also aims at promoting the « new » National Theatre as an institution open to a new audience, interested in theatre, but also in the latest technologies. The material used for the creation of the virtual tour is part of an extensive documentary archive compiled over 7 years, in the time frame 2008-2016. Completed at the end of 2015 (except for some photographs taken in 2016), the archive comprises video and photo materials, panorama images, architecture layouts, interviews and media coverage, following the National Theatre evolution and of its former and current employees throughout the entire duration of the building site for the building restyling. Through the spatial and temporal deployment, the archive has been first and foremost gathered as a study material on the topic of the architecture project, of the habitation of areas and the place occupied by NTB in the public space, aimed at both the audience and theatre professionals or those wishing to pursue a training in this field. The project has been entirely produced, in his capacity as author, by Mihai Bodea-Tatulea, graduate of the National University of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography, who even from the launch of his initiative, had the theatre’s consent to film and shoot all key moments in connection with the evolution of the institution. The entire documentary archive is subject to a potential publishing, and the author is seeking financial aid for supporting this effort. The National Theatre encourages the affiliation of other people, institutions or companies for supporting the project continuation.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu