Cultural historians claim that the founders of the Craiova National were two actors who fled from Bucharest to Oltenia following the complications of the 1848 Revolution: Costache Caragiali – the uncle of the future great playwright, Ion Luca Caragiale – and Costache Mihăileanu. Financially supported by the boyars Filișanu and Pera Opran, Caragiali's troupe of actors merged with the local amateur troupe led by Alecu Corcoveanu and gave a series of performances in the Oteteleșanu Hall, the first Romanian performances in Oltenia. The memory of the Craiova theater remembers this symbolic date: the publication "Vestitorul românesc" announced under the signature of Gheorghe Chițu, former liberal minister and mayor of Craiova, that "the day of June 29, 1850 was noted in the annals of Craiova with the opening of the Theater [...] Finally, the time came for Craiova to move into a sweeter life... and one day it was announced that the National Theater had opened its doors." The event consisted of two performances, "The Duel" and "The Stone of the House", by Costache Caragiali and Vasile Alecsandri, respectively. National theater at that time meant, of course, that performances were performed in Romanian. The expression did not have the connotation attributed in the meantime to the statehood of Romania as such (even the name Romania appears in 1866!), and the institution would only have an administration with money allocated from the country's budget during the mandate of Maria Teodorini, the only woman who ever led the Craiova theater!
With a history of 175 years, the “Marin Sorescu” National Theatre in Craiova is the second oldest national theatre in Romania, after the one in Iași (founded in 1840), surpassing the National Theatre in Bucharest (1852). A member of the European Theatre Convention (CTE) since 1995, the National Theatre in Craiova is the first from a country in Central and Eastern Europe to join this international trade association. Since its establishment, 37 directors (including interim ones, and others with two or more mandates) have led one of the most renowned institutions of Romanian culture – a Theatre that has spanned three centuries (19th, 20th, 21st). Theodor Teodorini, a reformer of the Craiova theatre, stands out among the directors who have led the National Theatre, who managed the institution for 19 years. The end found him ill in Vienna.
There were several stages (and headquarters) in the development of an institution without dramas at the administrative level. After the fire of 1856, the construction of the Teodorini Theater, put into use in 1857, is an example of speed (this construction will also be consumed by fire in 1927). After a long period in which it operated in the performance hall of the "Carol I" College (later "Nicolae Bălcescu"), Craiova has a theater that meets its aspirations. The year 1973 is a landmark with the inauguration of a headquarters appreciated nationally and internationally, the creation of the remarkable architect Alexandru Iotzu.
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One of the most beautiful periods in the history of the National Theatre of Craiova took place between 1956 and 1959, with the arrival in Craiova of some of the graduates of the so-called Golden Class: George Cozorici, Constantin Rauţchi, Silvia Popovici, Sanda Toma, Amza Pellea, Victor Rebengiuc, Dumitru Rucăreanu and their mentor, director Vlad Mugur, who together formed a team that remained in the history of the T.N.C. institution, where renowned actors already worked: Remus Comăneanu, Ovidiu Rocoș, Manu Nedeianu, Madeleine Nedeianu, Margot Boteanu-Păcuraru, Ilie Cernea, Richard Rang, Constantin Sassu, Ion Marinescu, Nicolae Radu, Rodica Radu, Florica Nicolaescu, Mircea Bohoreanu, Angela Bârsan. After the return to the capital of the members of the class led by Vlad Mugur, prominent actors joined the artistic team: Ion Pavlescu, Anca Ledunca, Vasile Cosma, Marina Bașta.
A great theater would not be possible, in the last three decades, without actors to match – a team, a spiritual family, welded together in shows carried in triumph on the world's stages: Ştefan Iordache, Ilie Gheorghe, Valer Dellakeza, Leni Pinţea-Homeag, Tudor Gheorghe, Valeriu Dogaru, Vladimir Juravle, Iosefina Stoia, Georgeta Luchian-Tudor, Remus Mărgineanu, Smaragda Olteanu, Valentin Mihali, Tamara Popescu, Mirela Cioabă, Ion Colan, Nataşa Raab, Angel Rababoc, Gabriela Baciu, Constantin Cicort, Nicolae Poghirc, Anca Dinu, Adriana Moca, Ozana Oancea, Adrian Andone, Geni Macsim, to whom were added guest actors from Bucharest, in a glorious period of the history of this theater: Adrian Pintea, Radu Beligan, Victor Rebengiuc, Coca Bloos, Micaela Caracaș, Mariana Buruiană, Alexandru Repan, Mihai Dinvale, Maia Morgenstern, Adrian Pintea, Mihai Constantin, Oana Pellea, Claudiu Bleonț.
The young graduates were no less impressive: Sorin Leoveanu, Cerasela Iosifescu, Romaniţa Ionescu, Iulia Lazar, Raluca Paun, Iulia Colan, Marian Politic, George Albert Costea, Vlad Udrescu, Claudiu Mihail, Costinela Ungureanu, Monica Ardeleanu, Ramona Drăgulescu, Nicolae Vicol performed in national and international renowned shows. Meanwhile, the multi-awarded director Radu Afrim and the talented director Bobi Pricop came to complete a list of artistic personalities that make the TNC troupe one of the most formidable in the country.
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The Craiova National Theatre reached its peak in the period 1990-2000, becoming a reference center of Romanian and European theater. Undoubtedly, Emil Boroghină's mandate is the one that opens a path to universality. Together with director Silviu Purcărete, the director born in Corabia (Romanați) wrote one of the most beautiful and incredible pages in the history of the Craiova National Theatre and Romanian theater.
The great shows of the years 1988-1989, meaning the end of the communist era, which resulted in another Revolution, the one of December 1989, were called "Furniture and Pain" directed by Cristian Hadji-Culea, "Uncle Vanea", directed by Mircea Cornișteanu, "The Dwarf in the Summer Garden" directed by Silviu Purcărete, "The Ark of Good Hope", staged by the singular Aureliu Manea. The period 1990-2000 meant the imposition of the Craiova National Theatre in the forefront of the Romanian theatrical movement and then of the European and even global one. Silviu Purcărete's 9 brilliant performances, "Ubu Rex with Scenes from Macbeth", "Titus Andronicus", "Phaedra", "Danaides", "Oresteia", "As You Wish or the Night of the Fair's Break-up", "Measure for Measure", "A Storm" have meant so many international recognitions, participations in the most important festivals in the world. To these, are added the powerful performances "Hamlet", directed by Gábor Tompa, "Timon of Athens", directed by Mihai Măniuțiu, "Servant to Two Masters" and "That's How It Seems", directed by Vlad Mugur.
An important moment in the recent history of Craiova theatre is represented by the founding of the International Shakespeare Festival in 1994 (founder-director, Emil Boroghină). A milestone in the history of festivals dedicated to the English bard, the Craiova Festival is currently regarded as one of the world's great genre festivals, where exceptional performances by Peter Brook, Eugenio Barba, Yukio Ninagawa, Robert Wilson, Lev Dodin, Declan Donellan, Silviu Purcărete, Eimuntas Nekrošius, Edward Hall, Richard Schechner, Elizabeth LeCompte, Luk Perceval, Thomas Ostermeier, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Oskaras Koršunovas, Yuri Butusov, Yoshihiro Kurita, Robert Lepage, Andrei Șerban, Oh Tae Suk, Saburo Teshigawara, Romeo Castellucci, Kelly Hunter, etc. have been performed. The scientific dimension of the International Shakespeare Festival is established through the international relevance of the Shakespearean sessions, translation seminars and theatre workshops, organized in collaboration with the International Association of Theatre Critics. On the occasion of these events, it is notable the presence in Craiova of some of the most important Shakespearean scholars and theatre critics: Stanley Wells, Paul Edmonson, Michael Dobson, Andrej Zurowski, John Elsom, George Banu, Ian Herbert, Don Rubin, Maria Shevtsova, Boika Sokolova, Ludmila Patlanjoglu, Michel Vaïs, Yun-Cheol Kim, Octavian Saiu, Lawrence Guntner, Michael Hattaway, Nicoleta Cinpoeș and others.