No candidate was admitted to the competition for the position of director of the Bucharest National Theatre

None of the three candidates for the management contest for the “IL Caragiale” National Theater in Bucharest was admitted to the interview stage, announced the Ministry of Culture, quoted by News.ro. The grades obtained were 5.74, 6.83 and 6.58, below the minimum passing threshold.

The passing grade is at least 7, according to art. 19 para. (3) from GEO 189/2008 regarding the management of public cultural institutions.

After the death of the late actor Ion Caramitru, the interim manager of TNB was Ioan Onisei, who died in February 2022. Then, the position was taken over by Mircea Rusu, and in April 2023 by George Călin, according to Digi24.ro.

Similar contests have recently been organized at several institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Culture, but in those that reached the final stage, no candidate was declared admitted, notes Radio Romania Cultural. At the Romanian National Opera in Iasi, although three candidates had grades above 7 in the first stage, they lost up to two points in the interview, and none were admitted, according to the Ministry of Culture.

At the “Brukenthal” National Museum, the commission noted the impossibility of completing the interview for both candidates, following the resumption of the procedure.

All the theaters subordinated to the Bucharest City Hall are in the same interim situation, according to the previously mentioned source.

The Excelsior Theater is still without a manager, after director Vlad Cristache's interim manager contract expired on November 30, 2025. The interim mayor Stelian Bujduveanu initially did not extend it, but under public pressure he accepted the extension, but director Vlad Cristache refused and the theater has been operating for a week without management.