ANDREI ȘERBAN
DIRECTOR
Collaborator
Personal data
Andrei Şerban (born June 21, 1943) is one of the most important theater and opera directors in the world, with a remarkable career in the USA and Europe. He has staged opera and theater performances in 39 countries, working on prestigious stages such as the Metropolitan Opera, Comédie-Française, Paris Opera, Vienna Opera, Covent Garden, the National Theatre in London, La MaMa Theatre, Seattle and Los Angeles Opera, Shiki Company of Tokyo, Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, and many others. He graduated in 1968 from the IATC Bucharest, with a degree in directing under the mentorship of Radu Penciulescu. He made his debut at the Youth Theatre in Piatra Neamț with two plays: "The Good Person of Szechwan" by Bertolt Brecht and "She Stoops to Conquer" by Oliver Goldsmith, and then returned to Bucharest, making a mark with the production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" at the Bulandra Theatre. In 1971, he emigrated to the United States on a Ford Foundation scholarship, invited by Ellen Stewart, the legendary director of La MaMa Theatre in New York. This marked the beginning of Andrei Șerban's spectacular international career, which led to resounding successes on the world's greatest stages. He studied for one year with Peter Brook at the International Centre for Theatre Research in Paris, and this collaboration with the famous director was crucial for his career. He returned to Romania after the December 1989 revolution as the general director of the National Theatre in Bucharest, where he staged, among others, "The Ancient Trilogy," which he had originally staged at La MaMa Theatre, achieving international acclaim. Another legendary production of his was Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" at the Hungarian State Theatre in Cluj. He remained present in the Romanian theatrical scene, even though from 1992, for 27 years, he led the acting department at Columbia University as an emeritus professor. He resigned from Columbia University in 2019, disagreeing with certain excesses of political correctness that were affecting the educational process.
