The Romanian National Theatre Festival begins: invited performances from Portugal, England, and Scotland are staged during the 33rd edition

Invited performances from Portugal, England, and Scotland will be featured in the 33rd edition of the Romanian National Theatre Festival, taking place in Bucharest from October 20th to October 30th.

The play “Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists,” written and directed by Tiago Rodrigues, a production of the National Theatre “D. Maria II” in Lisbon, Portugal, will open the festival on October 20th at the “Ion Caramitru” Hall of the National Theatre Bucharest at 7:00 PM, with a second performance on October 21st.

“Created by one of the most acute playwrights and directors, the play ‘Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists’ tells the story of a family. A story that condenses a troubling history, a story of confronting a painful past. Catarina, who is meant to carry on the tradition, abruptly stops its continuity. Catarina has the courage to resist. The play invites you to a tender and poetic reflection on the world we live in, increasingly ensnared by violence. Catarina’s destiny is liberating,” states Mihaela Michailov, one of the three curators of FNT33, as quoted in the press release. Details and tickets here.

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On the first day of the festival, there will also be a performance of “Oh My Sweet Land” at 10:00 PM at the Odeon Theatre, Studio Hall. Concept and performance by Corinne Jaber, a production of the Young Vic Theatre (England) and Theâtre de Vidy (Switzerland). Another performance of “Oh My Sweet Land” will take place at the same venue on October 21st at 7:30 PM.

According to Mihaela Michailov, “Oh My Sweet Land” is a one-woman show “in which the harrowing reality of war is present at the table, both literally and figuratively, with touching personal stories. Stories about Syria, about living in two worlds, about food and bombings. Daily life in the proximity of catastrophes takes on poetic intensity, emotionally capturing us and reflexively connecting us to a reality to which we cannot remain indifferent”. Details and tickets here.

The third invited performance at the festival, “Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel,” a production of The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, is scheduled at the National Theatre Bucharest, Atelier Hall, on October 26th at 9:30 PM and on October 27th at 5:00 PM.

The text of the play and the performance are by Tim Crouch, a playwright, performer, and experimental theater director from the United Kingdom. According to Mihaela Michailov, Tim Crouch presented this play at the Avignon Festival earlier this year.

“Tim Crouch offers us a contemporary reinterpretation of the classic text ‘King Lear.’ When the fool abandons the king, the world changes with astonishing speed. The past dissolves into a future in which a VR headset gives new meaning to reality,” says the FNT curator. Details and tickets here.

All performances will be subtitled into Romanian.

Storytelling masterclass held by Corinne Jaber

As part of FNT33, there will also be a masterclass titled “Devised Theatre & Storytelling” led by Corinne Jaber on October 21st at 11:00 AM at UNITER (Savart Terrace).

Additionally, a photography workshop supported by the theater photographer Christine de Grancy is scheduled for October 23rd at 11:00 AM at UNITER (Savart Terrace). The meeting-workshop, produced by the Austrian Cultural Forum, is dedicated to professional photographers specializing in theater photography, as well as students in the field. Entry is free within the available seating.

The current edition of the Romanian National Theatre Festival

The curatorial team of the RNTF 2023 (Mihaela Michailov, Oana Cristea Grigorescu and Călin Ciobotari), after viewing more than 150 performances produced by state-funded as well as in independent theatres that premiered in the 2022-2023 theatrical year, opted for a series of productions they found corresponded to the theme of this year’s edition: RNTF, the Laboratories of the Sensitive.