Alina Serban, an actor and playwright has become the first Roma artist to direct a play on Romania’s national stage, the Bucharest National Theater.
Her autobiographical performance, ‘The Best Child in the World’, tells the story of a young Roma girl struggling with self-identity and racism growing up in Romania.
Sold out
The 34-year-old artist’s show opened on January 21 to sold out audiences and has made headlines even outside Romania.
The moving story which is even funny at times is about a girl who triumphs against all odds but can’t escape the stigma she faces as a Roma.
“This is the first time that a Roma story, written, staged and performed by a Roma artist has been welcomed on the national scene,” she told AFP.
„My aim is to heal myself and others if I can and to change things for the better through my art,” she told the Bucharest National Theater.
Represented
She hopes her play will resonate with the community and make them feel represented and heard.
The first one in her family to graduate high-school, she graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts in New York and obtained a master’s from the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
She is known for writing and performing plays with social justice messages, against sexism, racism and homophobia.
‘Gipsy Queen’
She won acclaim for her performance in ‘Gipsy Queen’ – for which she won Best Actress Award at the German Actors Guild Awards 2020 – and the Belgian drama ‘Alone At My Wedding’, Euronews reported.
She is driven more by creating art from her own experiences than recognition and awards, she says.
The report said she heard a someone at school say: „She’s not Romanian, she’s a Gypsy” which has haunted her ever since.
„The problem with racism is that all the hate that you feel is targeting you becomes self-hate,” she says.
Discrimination
Romania has the largest Roma minority in Europe with between 1.5 and two million people.
Officially, there are only about 621,000 out of a population of 19 million. Many don’t want to identify as Roman due to discrimination.
Opinion polls say the majority of Romanians don’t trust Roma and wouldn’t want to have them as a neighbor.
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