“Ileana, Princess of Romania”, the compelling one-woman show dedicated to one of Romania’s most beloved royals, a daughter of legendary Queen Marie of Romania and a revered figure of Cold War Romanian diaspora, hits the North American stages as part of a major tour that includes Philadelphia, Chicago, Montreal, and Detroit.
Conceived, directed and starring multi-talented thespian Liana Ceterchi, the performance is based on the Princess’s memoir, “I Live Again”, which remembers a life of courage and devotion against the backdrop of an often unforgiving 20th Century.
The show is a production of The Women’s Theatre Association IF supported by The National Archives of Romania, UNITER and the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration Ellwood City. The US & Canada tour is made possible by the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York and various Romanian-American cultural associations.
Young Princess Ileana first came to New York and Philadelphia in 1926, in the company of her mother, the beloved Queen Marie. She spent her last years, under the given name of Mother Alexandra, at the Orthodox Monastery which she had founded not far from the place of her first visit to the US, in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.
The Princess was the youngest daughter of Queen Marie and King Ferdinand I. She had to escape the country when the communist regime took power in Romania after WWII and spent her exile years in Switzerland, Argentina, France and the United States. She took her vows in 1967 and later founded the first English language Orthodox monastery in North America, the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City.
,,Yes, to live again, because after I left home, which for me was always Romania, I was as dead. Not the circumstances were hard to bear, but even the need to live. I never doubted of the necessity of being close to my six children, but inside, the ‘personal self’ that existed independent of the mother, the wife, the friend who I was - the essential ego, on which all was built - suffered a deadly shock when I was dismissed from my own people.” - Princess Ileana/ Mother Alexandra.
Liana Ceterchi has directed for the most prestigious theaters in Bucharest, among which Bulandra, Act, and Nottara. In recent years, she has made an active effort to encourage and support Romanian independent theatre and, most notably, to enhance the female presence in the performing arts. She set up the The Women’s Theatre Association IF/DACĂ through which she has produced a great number of shows starring both famous actresses and young talent. The role of her association has also proved unique in raising fundamental problems, using drama as therapy and performing in women’s prisons throughout Romania.
“Ileana, Princess of Romania”
Based on the autobiographical book “I Live Again”
Dramatization by Edith Negulici
Directed & performed by: Liana Ceterchi
Video & sound by Georgiana Dobre
Places & dates of the tour:
September 8, 6 p.m.
Klein Life, Philadelphia, PA
September 11, 6:30 p.m.
Belmont Theater Cinema, Belmont, MA
September 15, 6 p.m.
Art Neuf Calixa-Lavallee, Montreal, Canada
September 16, 6 p.m.
Japanese Canadian Cultural Center, Toronto, Canada
September 21, 8 p.m.
St Mary’s Orthodox Church, Colleyville, TX
September 23, 1 p.m.
St Mary Orthodox Romanian Cathedral, Cleveland, OH
September 28, 6:30 p.m.
Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, Ellwood City, PA
September 30, 1 p.m.
St George Romanian Orthodox Cathedral, Southfield, MI
