# National Theatre Bucharest

The National Theatre Bucharest (Romanian: Teatrul Naţional "Ion Luca Caragiale" București) is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest.

## Founding

It was founded as the Teatrul cel Mare din București ("Grand Theatre of Bucharest") in 1852, its first director being Costache Caragiale. It became a national institution in 1864 by a decree of Prime Minister Mihail Kogălniceanu, and was officially named as the National Theatre in 1875; it is now administered by the Romanian Ministry of Culture.
In April 1836, the Societatea Filarmonica — a cultural society founded by Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Ion Câmpineanu — bought the Câmpinencii Inn to build a National Theatre on the site, and began to collect money and materials for this purpose. In 1840, Obşteasca Adunare (the legislative branch established under the terms of the Imperial Russian-approved Organic Statute) proposed to Alexandru II Ghica, the Prince of Wallachia, a project to build a National Theatre with state support. The request was approved on June 4, 1840. Prince Gheorghe Bibescu adopted the idea of founding the theatre and chose a new location, on the spot of the former Filaret Inn. There were several reasons to favor this location: it was centrally located, right in the middle of Podul Mogoşoaiei (today's Calea Victoriei); the earthquake of 1838 had damaged the inn beyond repair, and it needed to be torn down.

## Old building

The August 13, 1843, report of the commission charged with building the theatre determined that construction would cost 20,300 florins (standard gold coin) of which only 13,000 gold coins were available. In 1846, a new commission engaged the Viennese architect A. Hefft, who came up with an acceptable plan.
Construction got under way in 1848, only to be interrupted in June by the Wallachian revolution. In August 1849, after Prince Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbei took power, he ordered that construction be completed.
The theatre was inaugurated on December 31, 1852, with the play Zoe sau Amantul împrumutat, described in the newspapers of the time as a "vaudeville with songs". The building was built in the baroque style, with 338 stalls on the main floor, three levels of loges, a luxurious foyer with staircases of Carrara marble and a large gallery in which students could attend free of charge. For its first two years, the theatre was lit with tallow lamps, but from 1854 it used rape oil lamps; still later this was replaced by gaslights and eventually electric lights. In 1875, at the time its name was changed to Teatrul Naţional, its director was the writer Alexandru Odobescu.
The historic theatre building on Calea Victoriei — now featured on the 100-leu banknote — was destroyed during the Luftwaffe bombardment of Bucharest on August 24, 1944 (see Bombing of Bucharest in World War II).

## The modern theatre

The current National Theatre is located about half a kilometre away from the old site, just south of the Hotel Intercontinental at Piaţa Universităţii (University Square), and has been in use since 1973. The edifice was extensively renovated from 2012 to 2014.

## Theatre activity

Currently, the Bucharest National Theatre presents its performances in seven auditoriums: Ion Caramitru Hall (940 seats), Small Hall (130-150 seats), Studio Hall (424-594 seats), Black Box Hall (200 seats), Painting Hall (230 seats), Media Hall (200 seats), and Amphitheatre (outdoor terrace) (299 seats).
In over 150 years of existence, the Bucharest National Theatre presented on stage many of the most significant pieces of universal dramaturgy. It has had successful performances both in and outside the country: France, Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Italy, England, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Brazil, etc.

## Chairmen

* Costache Caragiale, Ioan A.Wachmann: 1852–1853, Costache Caragiale: 1853–1855
* Matei Millo: 1855–1859, 1861–1866, 1870–1871
* C. A. Rosetti: 1859–1860
* Direcția Comitetului Teatrelor: 1860–1861
* Costache Dimitriade: 1866–1867
* Matei Millo, Mihail Pascaly: 1867–1868
* Grigore Bengescu: 1868–1870
* Mihail Pascaly: 1871–1874, 1876–1877
* Societatea Dramatică: 1874–1875
* Al. Odobescu: 1875–1876
* Ion Ghica: 1877–1881
* Constantin Cornescu: 1881–1882
* Grigore C. Cantacuzino: 1882–1887, 1889–1898
* Constantin Stăncescu: 1887–1888
* Ion Luca Caragiale: 1888–1889
* Grigore C. Cantacuzino, Petre Grădişteanu: 1898–1899
* Scarlat Ghica: 1899–1901
* Ştefan Sihleanu: 1901–1905
* Alexandru Davila: 1905–1908
* Pompiliu Eliade: 1908–1911
* Ion Bacalbașa: 1911–1912
* A. Davila, I.A. Brătescu–Voinești, George Diamandi: 1912–1914
* George Diamandi: 1914–1915
* Alexandru Mavrodi: 1915–1916, 1922–1923, 1931–1933
* German occupation: 1917–1918
* Constantin Rădulescu-Motru, I. Peretz: 1918–1919
* Ion Peretz, Victor Eftimiu: 1919–1920
* Victor Eftimiu: 1920–1921
* Victor Eftimiu, Al. Mavrodi: 1921–1922
* Ion Valjan: 1923–1924
* Corneliu Moldovanu, Ion Minulescu: 1924–1925
* Corneliu Moldovanu, Al. Hodos: 1925–1927
* Corneliu Moldovanu: 1927–1928
* Corneliu Moldovanu, Liviu Rebreanu: 1928–1929
* Liviu Rebreanu, Victor Eftimiu: 1929–1930
* Ion Grigore Perieţeanu, Al. Mavrodi: 1930–1931
* Al. Mavrodi, Paul Prodan: 1933–1934
* Paul Prodan: 1934–1937
* Paul Prodan, Ion Marin Sadoveanu: 1937–1938
* Ion Marin Sadoveanu, Camil Petrescu: 1938–1939
* Camil Petrescu, Ion Marin Sadoveanu: 1939–1940
* Ion Marin Sadoveanu, Haig Acterian, Liviu Rebreanu: 1940–1941
* Liviu Rebreanu: 1941–1944
* Victor Eftimiu, Nicolae Carandino, Tudor Vianu: 1944–1945
* Ion Pas: 1945–1946
* Ion Pas, Zaharia Stancu: 1946–1947
* Zaharia Stancu: 1947–1952
* Ioan Popa: 1952–1953
* Vasile Moldoveanu: 1953–1956
* Ion Marin Sadoveanu: 1956–1959
* Zaharia Stancu: 1959–1969
* Radu Beligan: 1969–1990
* Andrei Şerban: 1990–1993
* Fănuș Neagu: 1993–1996
* Ion Cojar: 1996–2001
* Dinu Săraru: 2001–2004
* Ion Caramitru: 2005–2021
In 2005, following a contest, the actor Ion Caramitru was appointed as general director of the theatre.