Our most recent programme, a series of chamber performances to unfold in the theatrical space set up at the Institute, debuts with Alina Serban’s illuminating and highly acclaimed examination of conflicting identities, social discrimination, and the redemptive force of self-expression. The performance, inspired by the autobiographical story of the actress, a Romanian from the Roma minority, follows the dilemmas, challenges and revelations that accompany a girl from a poverty-stricken Roma community in Bucharest on her sinuous way to social emancipation as a performer trained in some of the best artistic schools in the world. The show is presented on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

“I Declare at My Own Risk” has been widely performed across Europe in countries including Romania, Hungary, Italy and France, and has gathered considerable critical acclaim. In the UK, the play was performed at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art – RADA Festival in 2013 and was subsequently offered a development workshop at Oval House Theatre and a short performance run at Tara Arts in 2014. Hobo Theatre Company will present a full production of the play in Autumn 2016.

“Very occasionally I come across someone who is like a rising star, a force that is bright, unstoppable and has an impact on anyone who sees it. I saw Alina Şerban's one-woman-show in Bucharest and it was amusing, concise, and unsentimental. It felt authentic and it avoids moralizing about the rights and wrongs of the Roma situation.” (Rupert Wolfe-Murray, “Huffington Post”)

“A troubling metaphor for all forgotten children” (Judith Sibony, “Le Monde”)

“I Declare at My Own Risk”

By and with Alina Şerban
Directed by: Jamie Harper
Design by: Moi Tan
Light design by: Janne Simila

Alina Şerban is a Romanian actress of Roma origin, theatre practitioner and human rights activist. A graduate of Tisch School of the Arts & NYU and of Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, RADA (MA Theatre lab), she is interested in interventionist and physical theatre. “I Declare at My Own Risk” – in which she was involved at all stages of production – has brought her recognition on the Romanian stage since 2011. Her performances include Irina in “Three Sisters”, Kalonike in “Lysistrata” and Munerva in “Possesed” – all RADA productions, as well as Marina in Shakespeare's “Pericles”, (director Philip Parr, International Shakespeare Festival Gdansk). She has collaborated with the Geko and Complicite theatre companies. With the “B- Lab Brighton Company”, she has recently starred in “The sun that leaves no shadows” (based on Camus' “L'Etranger”) at the Brighton Fringe Festival; she is also working in partnership with Rich Mix as an actress, playwright and project leader for “Home”, a play about immigration to be performed this autumn. As Nadir in BBC's “The Last Enemy”, she co-starred with Benedict Cumberbatch and BAFTA winner Anamaria Marinca. Romanian audiences also know her as a comedian, as she has been a member of the popular improvisational group “Trupa Nouă”. Alina Şerban has also lent her voice to a number of social campaigns. She directed, produced and performed in "3ivisarde paramica", a street performance project sponsored by Rromani Criss anti-discrimination NGO and the Open Society Foundation. She was creatively involved and acted in short films promoting education among the marginalised (“We All Need School and “Changes”, for the AWARE EU.Project and appeared in anti-discrimination clips for the same Rromani Criss.

Jamie Harper studied English Literature at the University of Sheffield and trained on the Directors’ Course at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). His directing credits include “The Hundred We Are” (Hobo Theatre at The Yard); “Archipelago” (Hobo Theatre at Camden People's Theatre); “Hunger” (Hobo Theatre at E5 Bakehouse); “Heaven in Berlin” (Hobo Theatre at Testbed1); “The Return of Colmcille” (Derry, UK City of Culture Festival); “La Turista: Cafe Duende” (Hobo Theatre at Morito Tapas); “Roundabout” (Hobo Theatre at The Bush); “The Wolf” (Network Theatre); “Invasion!” (Tooting Arts Club - Time Out Critics' Choice); “Our Town” (Rose Theatre, Kingston); “Beyond the Pale” (Southwark Playhouse); “A Real Humane Person Who Cares and All That” (Arcola) and “Invisible Storms” (Cock Tavern - Time Out Critics' Choice) amongst others. In addition to his directing work he has taught acting and text at LAMDA, East 15, Central School of Speech and Drama, the Arts Educational School, London South Bank University and Kingston University. Awards include the Northern Ireland Arts Council Tyrone Guthrie Bursary, the JMK Directors’ Award, the National Theatre Cohen Bursary for which he was Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio and a Winston Churchill Trust Travelling Fellowship to research game design at the University of Miami. He has recently participated in Zecora Ura's 2015 DRIFT International Residency for interactive media artists.