37th edition under the theme “Theatre – A Present Beyond”

The curtain rises in three cities

The oldest festival in Romania dedicated to young creators and young audiences opened yesterday’s edition featuring 23 performances, 8 days, and 3 cities across the county.

Highlights include:

• six public meetings within the series “Words about Stage and Creation,” moderated by Tamara Constantinescu;
• six new names added to the Alley of Personalities;
• four playwrights and four texts entering the Eduard Covali Playwriting Competition workshops.

Festival curator and director: Assoc. Prof. PhD Paul Chiribuță
Organizer: Youth Theatre Piatra Neamț
Manager: Andrei Merchea

Here are the performances from the first day of the festival:

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2026 — Extended Opening Day

(Piatra Neamț, Roman, Târgu Neamț)

10:30 AM | Piatra Neamț Sports Hall
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (children’s performance, 5+)
Theatre: “Luceafărul” Theatre for Children and Youth, Iași
Directed by: Ion Ciubotaru
Adaptation by Călin Ciobotari, after the Brothers Grimm
Duration: 50 min

11:00 AM | Rotunda Hall, Youth Theatre
SPOTLIGHT: MATEI VIȘNIEC — public meeting
Moderator: Tamara Constantinescu

12:00 PM | Piatra Neamț Sports Hall
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (second performance)

5:00 PM | Youth Theatre Piatra Neamț
RICHARD III (15+)
By William Shakespeare (translation: Horia Gârbea)
Director: Radu Iacoban
Theatre: National Theatre “Mihai Eminescu” Timișoara
Duration: 2h 45 min (with intermission)

A major Shakespearean historical tragedy portraying Richard, Duke of Gloucester’s bloody rise to power — a classic study of tyranny, manipulation, and ambition.

7:00 PM | “Ion Creangă” Cultural House, Târgu Neamț
GHIMPL THE FOOL (12+)
After Isaac Bashevis Singer
Director: Daniel Iordan
Theatre: Youth Theatre Piatra Neamț
Duration: 1h

A parable about faith, chosen innocence, and dignity.

7:00 PM | Roman City Hall Festive Hall
BLUE (16+)
By Ionuț Vișan
Director: Andreea Vulpe
Theatre: Youth Theatre Piatra Neamț
Duration: 1h 30 min

A contemporary Romanian text exploring fragile areas of couple and family life.

8:30 PM | Trade Unions Cultural House, Piatra Neamț
THE CABARET OF WORDS (12+)
Written and directed by Matei Vișniec
Municipal Theatre “Matei Vișniec” Suceava
Duration: 1h 50 min

A poetic-theatrical collage where words themselves become characters.

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2026

4:00 PM | Rotunda Hall
SPOTLIGHT: RADU AFRIM — public meeting

5:30 PM | Youth Theatre Piatra Neamț
A LOST LETTER (14+)
By Ion Luca Caragiale
Directed by Alexandru Dabija
Theatre ACT Bucharest
Duration: 2h 30 min (with intermission)

A celebrated Romanian political satire reinterpreted in an intimate theatrical setting.

8:30 PM | Trade Unions Cultural House
HERBARIUM (14+)
By Simona Popescu & Radu Afrim
Directed by Radu Afrim
National Theatre Târgu-Mureș
Duration: 2h 20 min

A sensory and dreamlike journey through memory, childhood, and nature.

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2026

4:00 PM | Sports Hall
GOD OF CARNAGE (14+ | youth production)
After Yasmina Reza
TeenAct Theatre Group – “Petru Rareș” National College
Duration: 1h 15 min

A dark comedy about civility collapsing into open conflict.

5:00 PM | Rotunda Hall
SPOTLIGHT: GÁBOR TOMPA — public meeting

7:00 PM | Youth Theatre Piatra Neamț
I AM THE WIND (14+ | Hungarian with Romanian surtitles)
By Jon Fosse — Nobel Prize Laureate 2023
Director: Gábor Tompa
Hungarian State Theatre Cluj
Duration: 1h 10 min

A minimalist meditation on solitude and disappearance.

8:30 PM | Trade Unions Cultural House
PUNK ROCK (15+)
By Simon Stephens
Excelsior Theatre Bucharest
Duration: 2h 40 min

A powerful drama about adolescence, pressure, anxiety, and violence.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2026

• CIULEANDRA — psychological drama after Liviu Rebreanu
• SPOTLIGHT: ANDREI ȘERBAN — public meeting
• THE DOCTOR by Robert Icke — ethical debate on medicine, religion, and identity

THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2026

• THE LIGHT BETWEEN US — youth theatre production
• SPOTLIGHT: ILINCA STIHI — public meeting
• THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE by Lavinia Braniște
• THE LESSON by Eugène Ionesco — iconic Theatre of the Absurd play

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2026

• SPOTLIGHT: RADU DINULESCU — public meeting
• EINE KLEINE NACHTMUSIK — choreographic theatre by Gigi Căciuleanu
• THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE by Andrew Bovell — contemporary family drama

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2026

• THE LION KING (children’s performances)
• RHINOCEROS by Eugène Ionesco — allegory on conformity and fascism
• THE RAINMAKER by Richard Nash — American romantic classic

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2026 — Closing Day

• ELIAN’S MAP (children’s performance)
• SCAPIN’S TRICKS (Turkish language production with Romanian surtitles)
• INCENDIES by Wajdi Mouawad — monumental drama about memory, war, and identity

Numerical Summary

• Total performances: 23 (20 adult + 3 children’s shows)
• Youth theatre productions: God of Carnage and The Light Between Us
• International production: State Theatre Bursa, Turkey
• Foreign-language performances: I Am the Wind (Hungarian) & Scapin’s Tricks (Turkish)
• On-stage audience performances: Ciuleandra and Things I Know to Be True
• Youth Theatre Piatra Neamț productions: Ghimpl the Fool & Blue
• Public meetings: 6 events moderated by Tamara Constantinescu
• Venues: Youth Theatre Piatra Neamț, Trade Unions Cultural House, Sports Hall, “Ion Creangă” Cultural House Târgu Neamț, Roman City Hall Festive Hall

Quotes

“Theatros, in Greek, means the place of seeing. But theatre is not only a place — it is another way of seeing. The power to look at the world as you have never seen it before and to rewrite it. When spectators leave the hall, they carry that world with them.”
— Andrei Merchea, Manager of the Youth Theatre

“Malraux said that art and culture are humanity’s fierce conquests meant to raise, before reality, a world belonging only to us. Among all forms, theatre has overwhelmingly imposed that other world. Today it is called not only to reflect reality — but to leave its mark upon it like a burning seal.”
— Paul Chiribuță, Festival Curator and Director

About the Festival

The oldest festival in Romania dedicated to young creators and young audiences.
First edition: June 1969.
The Grand Prize was awarded to Andrei Șerban, then a fourth-year student, for The Good Person of Szechwan.

Since then, artists such as Silviu Purcărete, Florin Piersic, Mitică Popescu, and Oana Pellea began their artistic journeys here.

The 37th edition, curated by Assoc. Prof. PhD Paul Chiribuță, takes place May 10–17, 2026.