For ten days, the gong will be sounded in Bucharest for the best shows of the moment. [b]The National Theater Festival[/b] features events that are not to be missed: [b]32 productions, 15 conferences and meetings, 13 radio broadcasts, six book launches are waiting for audiences starting today.[/b] At 18.00, the event show [i][b]Three Sisters[/b][/i] by A.P. Chekhov, Andrei Şerban’s debut on Hungarian stages, now for the first time in Romania, will open the 21st edition of the NTF at the Grand Hall of the Bucharest National Theater. The love, passion, hope and disappointment of Chekhov’s characters are given life by the talented actors of the Budapest National Theater. The show will be preceded by the opening ceremony, attended by [b]Hunor Kelemen[/b], the Minister of Culture and Religious Affairs, [b]Sorin Oprescu[/b], Mayor of Bucharest, [b]Ion Caramitru[/b], President of the Romanian Theaters’ Union UNITER, the organizer of the Festival, and the theater critic [b]Alice Georgescu[/b], the artistic director of the NTF. [i][b]Three Sisters[/b][/i] by A.P Chekhov is also scheduled on Saturday, 29 October, at 18.00. Friday night continues at Bulandra Theater’s Izvor Hall at 19.00 with [i][b]Leonce and Lena[/b][/i] by Georg Büchner, directed by Gábor Tompa, a production of the Hungarian State Theater in Cluj. The production (boasting two nominations for Best Show and Best Set Design awards; Gábor Viola received the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Award at the UNITER Awards Gala in 2010) is waiting for the audience also on Saturday, 29 October at 18.00. Relations of yesterday and today. The wish to give up the “normality” of life and recover its source. Dialogues that describe people in unusual situations – this may be a brief characterization of the production [i][b]Mountainbikers[/b][/i] by Volker Schmidt (19.00 and 22.00, Odeon Theater, Majestic Hall), directed by Radu Alexandru Nica, scenography: Dragoş Buhagiar, choreography: Florin Fieroiu, music & sound design: Vlaicu Golcea. The creative team is a guarantee of high performance. The first day of the festival closes with dance. At 22.00 at Little Theater, the choreographer Arcadie Rusu invites us to a fantastic voyage, to the music of Maria Tănase and ethno-jazz rhythms. Let’s go to the theater!