The Iosif Vulcan troupe of the Regina Maria Theater in Oradea opens the 2025–2026 season with a rich cultural agenda, aimed at offering the audience landmark performances, exciting premieres, creative workshops and festivals dedicated to both loyal spectators and the youngest theater lovers.

Premieres until the end of 2025

The activity of the Regina Maria Theater will be intense at the beginning of the season, with no less than two premieres announced for September: "Things I Know to be True" a contemporary text by Andrew Bovell, directed by Vlad Bălan, which will premiere on September 16 and 17 at the Transilvania Hall.

I think we're going through a time where our society has become more polarized than ever, where we so often have this feeling of inability to communicate. We're living in a moment where we seem to have forgotten what connects us to each other. And Andrew Bovell's play touches on this subject of the rupture in the dialogue between parents and children, but it does so in a very tender way, without passing verdicts.

All the characters are in shades of gray, all can be loved at one moment and hated at another by the audience, just like in life. – Vlad Bălan, director of the show

The next premiere will take place on September 24 and 25, at the Great Hall. Director Vlad Trifaș returns to Oradea after the success of "Tartuffe" and stages the classic Romanian text "Carnival Gentlemen" by IL Caragiale.

To support the students and the school curriculum, the show will also be staged "The Scourge" by IL Caragiale, directed by Denisa Irina Vlad, designed especially for high school and middle school students from Oradea and Bihor County. The choice of these two classic Romanian titles also marks a symbolic moment for our institution: the 70th anniversary of the premiere of the first production of the permanent Romanian troupe in Oradea, "A Lost Letter", an anniversary through which we celebrate the continuity and value of Oradea's theatrical tradition.

The eventful spectacle of this period is, without a doubt, "Broken Glass", a screenplay by Roman Doljanski after Arthur Miller, directed by Timofei Kuliabin, which will premiere on November 16, at the Great Hall.

The acclaimed director of Russian origin, based in Berlin, is staging for the first time in Oradea, after this year's extraordinary collaboration with the "Radu Stanca" National Theatre in Sibiu. With an impressive track record in Russia and Europe and collaborations with prestigious artists and theatres, Kuliabin stood out, among others, through the show "In the Solitude of the Cotton Fields" by B.-M. Koltès, staged at the Dailes Theatre in Riga, starring Ingeborga Dapkunaite and John Malkovich.

Alongside him, in Oradea, an exceptional creative team will work: playwright Roman Doljanski, set designer Oleg Golovko and composer Timofei Pastukhov, with the support of translator Raluca Rădulescu. Together with the actors of the Iosif Vulcan Troupe, they will spend almost two months in Oradea, to build a show that we are eagerly awaiting and which we believe will become a reference in the repertoire of the Regina Maria Theatre.

Related events: reading performances and acting workshops

To complement the repertoire, the Regina Maria Theatre also proposes a series of reading performances, the first text performed being "The Good Wives" by Vlada Olhovskaya, directed by Elvira Rîmbu, which will take place on September 6, at the Regina Maria Theatre Lodge Foyer.

A larger project of this kind will be realized following the "Space for Romanian Drama" competition, part of the 2025 National Theatre Festival, through which playwright Anamaria Feraru will collaborate with the Regina Maria Theatre. Her text will first come to life through a performance-reading within the 2025 National Theatre Festival, and then it will be developed stage-wise and included in the theatre's repertoire in the 2025–2026 season, thus consolidating the institution's openness to contemporary Romanian drama.

Also, the pilot project TRM Summer Academy – personal development courses through theatrical techniques proved to be a real success, bringing together participants of all ages around intense creative experiences, coordinated by actors from the Iosif Vulcan Troupe. The enthusiasm and positive feedback of those involved confirm that there is a growing interest in this type of artistic training, which is why the Regina Maria Theatre will continue to organize theater workshops during the 2025–2026 season, thus opening up new opportunities for discovery and development through theatrical techniques.

"Spring Awakening" Festival

The year 2025 will end with a festival dedicated to young audiences, children and teenagers alike, which will take place between December 11-16. The event will be organized by both troupes of the theater and will include, in addition to invited performances from across the country, the premiere of the show "Spring Awakening", a production made in collaboration with young teenage actors who participated in the TRM Teens program and prepared during the season with the actors of the Iosif Vulcan Troupe. The show will be directed by Bobi Pricop and will be an adaptation of the original text by Frank Wedekind.

Oradea International Theatre Festival – FITO

Given the financial uncertainties and organizational challenges generated by the economic context, the Oradea International Theatre Festival, originally scheduled for September 13–21, will not take place this year. All efforts made to prepare the festival will, however, be redirected to prepare the 2026 edition, which is intended to have a real impact, with a complex program and a valuable and coherent international component. Also, the Short Theatre Festival, the main component of FITO since 2013, will celebrate 50 years since its first edition (1976) in 2026. 

Until then, the Oradea audience will continue to enjoy invited performances throughout the season, outside of a classic festival format. Eight remarkable productions will be brought to the stage of the Regina Maria Theatre, distributed throughout the year, so that each encounter with the theatre will be a unique and memorable moment.

The September program is already published on the website. Queen Maria Theatre, and tickets can be purchased from the ticket agency and online at WelcomeCulture.ro.

We look forward to seeing you at the theater!