На афише написано, что спектакль начнётся в семь часов.

На афише means on the poster / playbill / billboard.

Russian uses на because the information is understood as being written on a surface. A poster is treated like a flat thing with text on it, so на is the natural choice.

• на афише = on the poster
• в афише would usually sound wrong here

Also, after на in this meaning, афиша is in the prepositional case:

• афиша → на афише

So the phrase is literally on the poster.

Написано is being used in an impersonal construction meaning something like:

• it is written
• it says

There is no specific person doing the writing in the sentence, and the focus is on the written information itself. In Russian, this kind of idea is often expressed with a neuter-form predicate like написано.

So:

• На афише написано, что... = On the poster it says that...

You do not need an explicit subject like it the way English usually does.

Not really in the English sense.

English usually needs a subject:

• It is written on the poster...
• The poster says...

Russian can simply say:

• На афише написано...

This is a normal subjectless / impersonal structure. You can think of it as:

• Written on the poster is the following information...
• or more naturally, It says on the poster...

But grammatically, Russian does not need to insert a dummy subject like English it.

Что introduces a subordinate clause and means that.

So:

• На афише написано, что спектакль начнётся в семь часов.
• It is written on the poster that the play begins/will begin at seven o’clock.

In English, that is often optional:

• It says that the play will begin at seven.
• It says the play will begin at seven.

In Russian, что is much more normally kept. Omitting it here would not be standard.

Because спектакль is the subject of the clause:

• спектакль начнётся = the play will begin

The verb начнётся agrees with the subject, and the subject is in the nominative:

• спектакль = nominative singular

So the second part of the sentence is simply:

• that the performance/play will begin at seven

Because the sentence refers to an event that has not happened yet.

Начнётся is the future tense of the perfective verb начаться = to begin / to start.

So:

• начаться → начнётся
• the play will begin

Russian often uses the perfective future for a single completed event in the future:

• Спектакль начнётся... = The play will begin...

This is more natural here than an imperfective form, because we are talking about the moment the performance starts.

Because начаться is perfective, and perfective verbs form a simple future:

• начаться → начнётся

This is used for a single event seen as a whole: the play starting at a certain time.

Будет начинаться would come from the imperfective начинаться and would usually suggest repeated, ongoing, or process-oriented meaning. In this sentence, that would sound unnatural.

So for a scheduled start time:

• спектакль начнётся в семь часов = natural
• спектакль будет начинаться в семь часов = usually not what you want here

Yes, both are possible.

• в семь часов = at seven o’clock
• в семь = at seven

The version with часов sounds a little fuller or more explicit. In everyday speech, Russians very often just say в семь.

So this sentence could also be:

• На афише написано, что спектакль начнётся в семь.

That would still be completely natural.

The preposition в is used here for a point in time, meaning at.

With clock times, Russian says:

• в час
• в два часа
• в пять часов
• в семь часов

A useful way to understand this phrase is:

• в семь = at seven
• часов is part of the time expression

The numeral affects the form of час:

• 1 → час
• 2, 3, 4 → часа
• 5+ → часов

So:

• в семь часов = at seven o’clock

Even though семь itself does not visibly change here, the whole phrase is a fixed time expression that learners should memorize as a pattern.

It depends on context.

Спектакль usually refers to a staged theatrical performance, especially in a theater. So common translations are:

• play
• performance

If the context is theater, play is often the most natural English choice.
If you want to stay broader, performance works well.

Show is possible in some contexts, but it can sound less specifically theatrical.

Yes, Russian word order is fairly flexible, though the original version is very natural.

Original:

• На афише написано, что спектакль начнётся в семь часов.

You might also see:

• На афише написано, что в семь часов начнётся спектакль.

This shifts the focus a little toward the time. Both are grammatical.

What is less natural is changing the sentence in a way that breaks the information flow. The original order sounds neutral and clear:

1. where the information is written
2. that-clause
3. subject + verb + time

Because что спектакль начнётся в семь часов is a subordinate clause.

Russian normally uses a comma before что when it introduces a clause like that...:

• Я знаю, что...
• Он сказал, что...
• На афише написано, что...

So the comma is required here.

It is pronounced with yo:

• начнётся ≈ nach-nyot-sya

The ё matters for pronunciation and stress. In many printed texts, Russian often writes е instead of ё, so you may sometimes see:

• начнется

But it is still pronounced начнётся.

That is very common in Russian spelling: ё is often omitted in writing, but native speakers know the correct pronunciation from context.

Very roughly, it is:

• На афише = on the poster
• написано = it is written / it says
• что = that
• спектакль = the play / performance
• начнётся = will begin
• в семь часов = at seven o’clock

So the literal flow is:

• On the poster it is written that the performance will begin at seven o’clock.

That is why a natural English translation is something like:

• The poster says that the play starts at seven.
• It says on the poster that the performance begins at seven o’clock.