Center “Ion Sava”
Premiere at the NTB: “Any Other Candidates?” – Caragiale as interpreted through Ada Milea’s musical and playful vision
The “I.L. Caragiale” National Theater in Bucharest announces the premiere of the concert-performance Any Other Candidates? by Ada Milea, a project whose first performances will take place on June 24 and 25, 2026, at 9:30 p.m., in a spectacular setting: the Open-Air Amphitheater (Up on the TNB Rooftop).
This time, the genius of the great Caragiale meets Ada Milea’s playful inventiveness and the theatrical flair of the TNB actors. The result is an effervescent concert-performance—at once comical and cynical—about us, the people of today, viewed through Caragiale’s lens.
Any Other Candidates? is an intense musical story about love, interests, and blackmail, adapted into a fully sung version based on the famous play “A Lost Letter.” A haunting refrain, reinterpreted and brought to life on stage by the talented cast. The actors who bring Caragiale’s characters to life in a unique musical style, performing multiple or alternate roles, are: Petre Ancuța (Drunken Citizen), Emilian Mârnea (Drunken Citizen), Florin Călbăjos (Drunken Citizen), Mihai Munteniță / Silviu Biriș (Governor), Oana Laura Gabriela (Zoe Trahanache / Mrs. Cațavencu), Aylin Cadîr (Zoe Trahanache), Vitalie Bichir (Zaharia Trahanache), Tiberiu Enache (Ghiță), Alina Petrică (Mrs. Cațavencu), Natalia Călin (Mrs. Brânzovenescu / Mrs. Dandanache), Florentina Țilea (Mrs. Farfuridi), Emilia Popescu (Mrs. Dandanache).
Three drunken citizens take control of the stage, guiding the characters and the audience through all the events of the famous play, while playing instruments live. “Those three actors once captivated me with their performance in the show ActOrchestra, and ever since then, I’ve had an idea about them. That idea was just waiting for the right opportunity, the text, and the songs. For about 12 or 13 years,” explains Ada Milea, who directed the show and composed its music.
“Any Other Candidates?” (A concert-performance by Ada Milea, inspired by A Lost Letter)
Produced by: “Ion Sava” Center for Theater Research and Creation – NTB
Creative Team: Ada Milea (Concept, Adaptation, and Music), Ada Milea and Anca Hanu (Songs), Maria Constantin (Set Design), Florin Fieroiu (Choreography), Victor Pamfilov (Sound Design), Adrian Scarlat and Marian Dan Găină (Sound Design Assistants), Daniel Tiuntiuc (Lighting Design), Theodor Radu (Technical Direction), Florin Ghioca (Photography), Cristiana Gavrilă (Project Coordinator).
The official premiere will take place on June 24 and 25, 2026, at 9:30 p.m., at the Open-Air Amphitheater (on the roof of the NTB). Tickets can be purchased at the NTB Box Office, as well as online through specialized platforms. Don’t miss it!
Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
Researching and Theatrical Creation Center “Ion Sava” is that place where theatre can be a game, at large, in absence of the institutional pressure, of the dictatorship of deadlines and the final product obligations named spectacle. More than everything, it expects to be an open space for ideas and for attempts, first of all for the creative process, even if it is about the professional development or about the exploration of new territories of scenic art.
It came into existence by means of a government issue in 2005 and functioning since 2006, Researching and Theatrical Creation Center “Ion Sava” is on the one hand an informal “school” of perfectioning artists and technicians who work on the Romanian stage, and on the other hand an open platform for theatrical and interdisciplinary experiment and investigation.
The workshops which evolve inside the Center attend to cover a large spectre of theatrical areas, from dramaturgy to scenography and from neo-avant-garde to recovering the lost memory of the Romanian stage. The center organizes master class handled by distinguished professionists, Romanians and foreigners, and it offers creation space for artists in searching for new dramaturgy or performative language, in the guise of practice, lectures and meetings.
The projects of the Centre are coordinated by Cristiana Gavrilă.
Contact:
Researching and Theatrical Creation Center “Ion Sava”
National Theatre “I.L. Caragiale”
Nicolae Bălcescu avenue, no 2, sector 1, Bucharest
Tel.: 021/3139175 extension 127
Fax: 021/3123169
E-mail: centrulsava@gmail.com
