Andrei Serban (June 21, 1943 – ) is best known for reimagining classic texts and operas through experimental means. As a child in Romania, he sought an alternative to the repressive Communist regime in puppet shows, the church, music, and theater. In his early 20s, he staged revolutionary productions of Shakespeare and Alfred Jarry. Ellen Stewart, founder of La Mama engineered a Ford Foundation grant to bring him to New York in 1969. This began a rich collaboration at La Mama, notably his Fragments of a Greek Trilogy. Peter Brook invited him to join his International Centre for Theatre Research, which stripped language to its essence and experimented with sound. In his initial year at Lincoln Center, Joe Papp invited Serban to direct Chekhov. Over his long and continuing career, Serban has worked in scores of theaters and opera houses internationally, from The Metropolitan Opera to the Comédie Française. He taught at Columbia University for 27 years.
About The Downtown Performance Series
NYU Skirball and Artifacts have teamed up to produce NYU Skirball Presents Downtown Performance, a series spotlighting the directors, performers, and artists who shaped the movements loosely defined as “Downtown.”
Inspired by the cultural history rooted in NYU Skirball’s neighboring blocks, the Downtown Performance series captures in-depth interviews with living legends of performance. The first instalment, features groundbreaking directors Robert Wilson, Richard Foreman, JoAnne Akalaitis and Richard Schechner. For more on NYU Skirball, please visit their website.
