Saviana Stănescu on Writing/Performing the Immigrant Experience

Playwright, screenwriter, poet and director Saviana Stănescu, one of the most successful Romanians in American theater and our next guest at the Feraru Conferences, discusses what it takes to make a breakthrough as an Eastern European writer in the United States, the strategies for success on New York’s stages, the current obsessions of drama writing and the future of independent theatre post-pandemic.

Join us live on Facebook on September 30, 12 p.m. New York & Toronto time / 9 a.m. Los Angeles & Vancouver time / 5 p.m. London time / 7 p.m. Bucharest time. (RSVP not necessary.)

Watch also on our website and other social media accounts after the show. 

Saviana Stănescu is an award-winning Romanian-American playwright, screenwriter, poet, director, professor, journalist, and ARTivist. Her work has been widely presented in the United States and internationally. Recent productions include "What Happens Next" at The Cherry, "Ants" at NJ Rep, "For a Barbarian Woman" (a co-production Fordham/EST), "Aliens with Extraordinary Skills" at Women’s Project, “Useless" at IRT, "Bechnya” at Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles, "Waxing West" (2007 New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Full-Length Script) at La MaMa Theatre, "Suspendida" and “Vicious Dogs on Premises” (with Witness Relocation) at Ontological Theatre, "Polanski Polanski" and "Aurolac Blues" at HERE Arts Center, "The E-Dating Project" at Strasberg Institute for Theatre & Film, and the site-specific "I Want What You Have" at the World Financial Center.

Saviana is a member of Ensemble Studio Theater and a Usual Suspect with New York Theater Workshop. She was a 2005-2007 TCG fellow with the Lark Play Development Center and a 2007-2008 NYSCA playwright-in-residence with Women's Project and writer-in-residence for Richard Schechner's East Coast Artists, as well as an inaugural Audrey fellow with New Georges (in a team with director Tamilla Woodard).

She holds an MA in Performance Studies (Fulbright fellow) and an MFA in Dramatic Writing (John Golden Award for excellence in playwriting) from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, where she was on faculty in the Drama Department for 8 years. She has taught Playriting and Performance Technique at Fordham University, Strasberg Institute for Theatre & Film, Primary Stages – Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA). She also holds a PhD in Theatre from the National University of Theater and Film, Bucharest, Romania.

Currently Saviana Stănescu is a tenured Associate Professor of Playwriting and Theatre/Performance Studies at Ithaca College and a Visiting Regional Fellow with Cornell Institute for European Studies.