The program of the 2025 edition National Theater Festivalheld in Bucharest during October 17-26includes, in addition to many performances and events expected by the public, a module dedicated to the associated artist FNT35 – “Focus: RADU AFRIM”.
Radu Afrim he is the first FNT associated artist and in this capacity he “assumed” the task to achieve
the opening performance of the festival – “Gro(o)ve”which takes place on October 17, 9:00 p.mon stage “Ion Caramitru” Hall of the “IL Caragiale” National Theater in Bucharest. As mentioned in an interview given to Oana Borș for the magazine’s FNT35 supplement The theater today (just out of print), Afrim first made a very personal playlist, he chose the music, track by track. He chose the choreographies. Andrea Gavriliu chose the dancers. Many are actors who dance. “My thought was to write a consistent text, but I was afraid (the word is coming) that we would be long. And I limited myself to throwing a question over the 900 seats of the large hall: how moral is it, how correct is it to take care of the springs of your soul in an increasingly tense socio-political context, how can you get up in front of the television where you see starving children, how can you close the tiktok where you see how misinformation is driving the world to the brink and someone always has to give us the illusion that they keep the balance as straight as possible and how the heart or the pills let you go to a party in a grove (hence the “grove” thing) to get snot, dance and forget all that. To break into figures on some pieces that talk about love and the sufferings caused by it and, just sometimes, about being alone in a strange and oppressive world. I would develop these questions in a show with a more complicated dramaturgy. Gro(o)ve
it’s a show-concert that is played only once. If FNT had managed to co-produce a show with a theater from the capital that would enter the season, I would have taken a different approach,” said Radu Afrim.
So, in the official opening FNT35 will be event show “Gro(o)ve”: direction Radu Afrim; scenography Cosmin Florea; choreography / performer Andrea Gavriliu; video design Andrei Kozlak; lighting design Christian Simon; output
Maria Rotary. The chosen performers are: Marius Manole, Flavia Giurgiu, Eva Danciu, Teo Velescu, Valentina Kocsis, Alice Popa, Bianca Adelina Geantă, Tamara Găgeatu, Mariana Gavriciuc, Eduard Chimac, Iustin Danalache, Filip Stoica, Andrei Bouariu, Ciprian Chiujdea, Robert Popa, Răzvan Conțiu. Singers – Luiza Zan, Corina Sîrghi, Ana Everling, Ioana Milculescu, Max Constant, Fruszina Szaboand the musicians Andrei Petrache – piano, Catalin Răducanu
– piano, Razvan Florescu – vibraphone, Philip Goron – percussions, Mike Alex – double bass, Kónya Ütő Bence – sample / keyboard, Lehel Vitalyos – double bass. Producer: UNITER and FNT 2025. Duration – 1h 30min.
“Focus: RADU AFRIM” also includes three shows staged by the director in three theaters in the country: “The house between the blocks”the text, direction and sound universe Radu Afrim – Târgu-Mureș National Theater – “Tompa Miklós” Company (October 18, 6:30 p.m., “IL Caragiale” National Theater in Bucharest, “Ion Caramitru” Hall); “Day of joy” by Arne Lygre, direction, sound universe, lighting design by Radu Afrim – “Vasile Alecsandri” National Theater in Iași (October 19, 6:00 p.m. – “IL Caragiale” National Theater in Bucharest, Sala Studio); “Teatro Lúcido at the edge of infinity“, screenplay and direction by Radu Afrim – Constanța State Theater (October 25, 20:00 and October 26, 19:30 – “IL Caragiale” National Theater in Bucharest, “Ion Caramitru” Hall, stage show).
The same module also includes two event meetings with Radu Afrim. On the date of
October 19, 11:00 amat ARCUB is scheduled DISCUSSION with the theme “Playwrights, adaptations and poetics”at which the director will dialogue with Ionuț Sociu – playwright and cultural journalist. Together they will emphasize the dramatic dimension of Afrim’s creation.
On the date of October 23from 16:00at the Media Hall of the Bucharest National Theatre, the innovative Romanian performing arts director will meet with theater groups made up of teenagers from Bucharest. The discussion, proposed by the FNT Educational module, is titled “How we form, how we evolve, how we look at each other”. Young people will be able to learn from Afrim “about his beginnings in theater directing, about his college and training years, about transformative artistic influences, about necessary detachments, about the courage to assume and crystallize aesthetic concepts initially categorized as provocative and shocking, about artistic vulnerabilities and moments of insecurity”. The meeting will be moderated by Mihaela Michailovcurator FNT Educational.
“Focus: RADU AFRIM” is supported by BRD – Groupe Société Générale
Details about the events of FNT35 are available on www.fnt.ro, as well as on the official Facebook and Instagram accounts of the National Theater Festival.
UNITY October 16, 2025
PRODUCERS AND PARTNERS OF THE NATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL, 2025 EDITION
PRODUCER:
UNITER Association – Theatrical Union from Romania
CULTURAL PROJECT FUNDED BY:
Ministry of Culture
CO-PRODUCERS:
Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB – Bucharest City Cultural Center
partner:
Romanian Cultural Institute
“IL Caragiale” National Theater from Bucharest
ITI – Romanian Center of the International Theater Institute
CO-ORGANIZER:
Romanian Television Society
Module Focus: Radu Afrim
supported by: BRD – Groupe Société Générale
MAJOR PARTNER:
MOL Romania
TRADITIONAL MEDIA PARTNER:
Radio Romania Cultural
Studio FNT by:
Cinemathon
MAJOR MEDIA PARTNER:
Guerrilla Radio
CULTURAL PARTNER:
Radio RFI Romania
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS:
Adam Mickiewicz Institute
The Polish Institute in Bucharest
Poland-Romania Cultural Season 2024 2025
Cricotheca
National Museum of Contemporary Art – MNAC Bucharest
Austrian Cultural Forum Bucharest
Instituto Cervantes from Bucharest
French Institute in Bucharest
Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Center Bucharest
National Radio Theater
You read the Mod
Bulandra Theater Bucharest
Metropolis Theatre
The Little Theatre
Odeon Theater Bucharest
Replika Educational Theater Center
ACT Theatre
The State Jewish Theatre
Excelsior Theatre
Mask Theatre
Nottara Theater Bucharest
The National Museum of Romanian Literature
Bucharest National Opera
Recoil – Cultural Remedy
Grivița Cultural Association53
Urban Restaurant DADA
SAVART restaurant
MEDIA PARTNERS:
TVR1
TVR Info
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Metropolis newspaper
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“Camil Petrescu” Cultural Foundation
Theater Today
LiterNet
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bookhub.ro
Positive Romania
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SPONSOR:
Blaga domains
MOBILITY PARTNER: BLUE
Volunteers in FNT from: National University of Theater and Cinematography “IL Caragiale” – UNATC
MONITORING PARTNER: mediaTRUST
