With 169 years of history, and several prizes won worldwide, the “Marin Sorescu” National Theatre of Craiova is one of the world’s great theatres, and it has participated at the most important international festivals. It has been a member of the European Theatre Convention (ETC-CTE) since 1995, and is the first Central and Eastern European theatre included in this international association. The ”Marin Sorescu” National Theatre in Craiova is a cultural institution financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Identity.

In 1988 Emil Boroghina became the managing director of the Craiova National Theatre and, according to his own words, he together with Silviu Purcarete wrote one of the most beautiful and incredible pages in the history of the Craiova National Theatre and of the Romanian theatre. The great performances of 1988 and 1989 were “Furniture and Suffering” directed by Cristian Hadjiculea, “Uncle Vanya” directed by Mircea Cornisteanu, ”The Gnome in the Summer Garden” directed by Silviu Purcarete, and ”The Ark of Good Hope” staged by Aureliu Manea. The decade 1990-2000 placed the National Theatre of Craiova at the top of the Romanian theatre, of the European one, and even of the world theatre. Silviu Purcarete’s exceptional performances of “Ubu Rex with scenes from Macbeth”, “Titus Andronicus” – with Stefan Iordache in the leading role –, as well as his “Phaedra”, “The Danaids”, “Oresteia”, “The Twelfth Night or What You Will”, „Measure for Measure”, and “The Tempest” have been internationally recognized and participated in the most important festivals worldwide: Edinburgh Festival, the Festival in Avignon, the Holland Festival in Amsterdam, Wiener Festwochen in Vienna, Theater Der Welt in Munich, the Tokyo Shakespeare Festival, the Israel Festival in Jerusalem, the Theatre Festival of Americas in Montreal, the Melbourne Arts Festival, the Scenic Arts Festival in Sao Paulo, the European Theatre Convention Festival in Stockholm, Lincoln Center Festival in New York, the Theatre of Nations Festival in Seoul etc.

In May 1997, the famous British magazine ”The Stage” compared the National Theatre of Craiova with Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble and Peter Brook’s Royal Shakespeare Company. The laudatory comment was possible thanks to the theatre’s excellent collaboration with the high class director Silviu Purcarete who staged here seven performances that were triumphantly presented worldwide.

An important moment in the recent history of our theatre is represented by the foundation of the International Shakespeare Festival in 1994 (founding-director, Emil Boroghină). Its first five editions took place every three years, and, then, since 2006, it has been organized every two years. A complex cultural event, the International Shakespeare Festival has become one of the great Shakespeare festivals of the world. It has presented performances directed by Declan Donnellan, Eimuntas Nekrosius, Peter Brook, Silviu Purcărete, Robert Wilson, Lev Dodin, Eugenio Barba, Pippo Delbono, Yoshihiro Kurita, Oskaras Korsunovas, Thomas Ostermeier, Yuri Butusov, Max Webster, Yukio Ninagawa.

Since 2000, during the directorate of Mircea Cornisteanu, new important national and international projects have been launched: ”Values of Romanian Theatre, Values of European Theatre” attended by guests from 30 European countries; ”Young Directors and Designers” – seven editions so far; ”SpectActor Meetings”, ”I.D.Sirbu Colloquia”, ”The Authors Are in the Audience” stage reading project, ” Poetry Sundays in Theatre”, and editing the theatre’s magazine, ”SpectActor”, one of the few specialized theatre magazines in Romania (editor-coordinator: Nicolae Coande).

The great American director Robert Wilson staged in Romania for the first time in 2014, at the Craiova theatre. His performance of the Rhinoceros, adapted after Eugene Ionesco’s play, was very successfully presented within the international theatre festivals in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Voronej (Russia).

The first edition of the International Festival of Young Directors, initiated in 2017 during the directorate of Alexandru Boureanu, united theatre schools from Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia, intending to underline the artistic potential of the theatre schools in Romania and Central and Southern Europe. The organizers of this festival included the ”Marin Sorescu” National Theatre in Craiova and the University of Craiova, as well as the Romanian Theatre Association, ”I. L. Caragiale” National University of Theatre and Film (U.N.A.T.C.) and Craiova Students’ House.

In 2016, the “Marin Sorescu” National Theatre of Craiova organized, for the first time in Romania, the prestigious theatre event of the Europe Theatre Prize awarding the European “Oscars” in theatre.

Since 2015, the Craiova National Theatre has organized the “Craiova NT Gala”, a cultural event where the Craiova audiences vote and have the chance to meet their favorite actors, with the extraordinary attendance of some important Romanian guests.

The National Theatre "Marin Sorescu" of Craiova is the only Romanian theatre to have been decorated with the Order of Cultural Merit in rank of Commander, "as a sign of distinct appreciation for the exceptional accomplishments of the TNC collective, which has made this cultural institution into one of the most renowned scenes in Romania".

Source: http://tncms.ro/istoric.php
Photo source: www.tncms.ro