Mihai Eminescu National Theatre
Moldova's leading drama company, in a domed neoclassical house on the capital's main boulevard.
The Mihai Eminescu National Theatre is the senior drama company of the Republic of Moldova and performs mainly in Romanian. Its home on Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt was begun in the early 1930s to a neoclassical design by the architect Nicolae Stănescu, intended as a multi-purpose cultural building with a concert hall, library and gallery. The economic depression halted the work, and the shell stood unfinished until the building was completed and reconstructed under Soviet administration in the 1940s and early 1950s. The theatre took Eminescu's name in 1988.
The auditorium sits inside a cylindrical volume crowned by a dome, whose interior was painted with a ring of dancing figures; Corinthian columns front the entrance and the foyers are lined with marble. The repertoire mixes Romanian classics such as Ion Druță's Frunze de dor with European drama, including Strindberg's Miss Julie and Schiller's Intrigue and Love, and the company tours abroad regularly. Performances are given most evenings from Tuesday to Sunday during the season.
Highlights
- Neoclassical house begun in the 1930s by Nicolae Stănescu
- Domed auditorium painted with a ring of dancing figures
- Romanian-language repertoire from Druță to Shakespeare
- Marble-lined foyers behind a Corinthian portico
