Third edition of National Theater Festival to be held in Chisinau

In the period from November 27 to December 3, theater lovers will witness during the third edition of the National Theater Festival (NTF) a period of major esthetic significance, a time for meetings and communication. This is the message of the preselection and festival’s juries, made public as part of a press conference on Monday November 27. The preselection jury’s head Valentina Tazlauanu said that 11 theaters in Moldova, except the Dramatic one in Cahul, for objective reasons, and the Dramatic Theater in Tiraspol, which ignored the invitation, will perform 14 spectacles from the last two theatrical seasons. Among the selection criteria there were: representation of creations as theatrical art, cast, stage management and original dramaturgy. According to the cited source, the most original titles are found on the playbills for puppet shows. “I think the Festival will help the viewers, especially the young people, get familiar with an old and authentic art”, said Tazlauanu. Head of Festival’s jury Val Butnaru stated in turn that the nine members of the jury will not take into account the results of UNITEM jury, but will try to watch the selected performances from a different viewpoint. “We will support both materially and logistically this wide-spreading event”, stated the representative of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) Vlad Melnic. According to him, the Festival will cost 400,000 lei, of which 220,000 were allotted by MCT, 110,000 – by City Hall and 50,000 - by UNITEM. The Grand Prix will be of 10,000 lei; 5,000 lei – for the best stage management, 3,000 lei for the best male/female role. There are envisaged prizes for the best scene painting, music etc. A special award worth EUR 1000 comes on the part of Moldovan-Austrian society “Era-Media”. Director of a Viennese Theater Tino Geirun, representative of the festival “Vienen BezivksfetWochen”, stated he came to the National Theater Festival in Chisinau to tell Europe about the theatrical movement and efforts that are made in Chisinau to make theatre. NTF organizers see this festival as a chance to gather the guild around the values, spirituality, amity and solidarity. The official opening of the third edition of the National Theater Festival will be held on November 27, at 6.00 pm, at the National Theater “Mihai Eminescu”, and then the spectacle “The Doctor Despite Himself” by Moliere will be performed.