Romanian actress gets New York theater award nomination

Romanian actress Mihaela Dragan has been nominated at this year’s edition of the Gilder/Coigney International Theater Award, granted by the League of Professional Theater Women.

She is one of only 20 women in the world nominated for this distinction, which will be awarded in a ceremony on October 23 at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in New York. The award acknowledges the exceptional work of theater women around the world and “aims to make a difference in the life and career of an international woman theater artist.” It includes a USD 1,000 cash prize.

Born in 1986, Dragan is both an actress and a playwright, working in Bucharest and Berlin. She is active as part of the Roma feminist theater company Giuvlipen which she established together with Zita Moldovan and Mihai Lukacs. In 2015, she starred in Radu Jude’s Aferim!, a film which brought the director the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. In 2017 she starred as the main character of Fanny Ardant’s short Magie Noir. Dragan is also a trainer working with women in Roma communities on their specific problems.

The other nominees for the award are Abir Aly (Egypt) , Lina Attel (Jordan), Jalila Baccar (Tunisia), Sarah Berger (England), Patricia Benecke (Germany), Sabina Berman (Mexico), Kate Cherry (Australia), Drenia Frederick (St. Lucia), Elena Gremina (Russia), Brigitte Helbling (Switzerland), Natalia Kaliada (Belarus), Carmina Narro (Mexico), Julia Pascal (England), Marwa Radwan Mohamed (Egypt), Jesusa Rodriguez (Mexico), Adelheid Roosen (The Netherlands), Nan Van Houte (The Netherlands), Ilire Vinca (Kosovo), and Linda Wise (France).

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