Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Elena Lozonschi. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Elena, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
The most meaningful project I’ve had the privilege to work on was the multilingual adaptation of Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard. We decided to push boundaries and combine eight different languages, spoken on stage simultaneously, under the skilled direction of director Frank Pagliaro. The languages spoken in our production were: Romanian, Mandarin, Japanese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English. Given our shared background as graduates of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, we saw an opportunity to leverage the diverse linguistic talents within our network of peers.
It was an incredible honor for myself to perform the lead character part, Lyubov Andreyevna, in Romanian (my native language). Not only that it helped me reach a profound emotional depth, but it also made me a better actor regardless of the language I perform in.
The response exceeded our expectations, with all five performances selling out and receiving enthusiastic feedback. This experience fueled my passion for exploring international collaborations and bringing unique perspectives to the stage.
The success of The Cherry Orchard adaptation inspired me to pursue my goal of introducing Romanian theater to the New York stage. I want to provide a platform where both the Romanian community established in the US and the American audiences are eager to discover new cultural narratives. I firmly believe that Romanian writers deserve international recognition, and I am committed to being a catalyst for that exposure.
As we look ahead, my next project, scheduled for May, is currently in development. While I can’t divulge too many details until we finalize arrangements with the playwright, I can assure you that it promises to be a thrilling and somewhat surreal experience, filled with unexpected moments. My dedication to showcasing diverse perspectives and fostering cross-cultural exchanges continues to drive my creative endeavors, and I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I started as a brand new actor when I came to New York seven years ago. I didn’t know anything about acting, the industry or anything for that matter, but I always had the drive and the passion for the craft. I started first in musical theater, and even though I loved it, I didn’t feel like I found my place in there. I kept dancing and singing, but after training at Stella Adler Studio, I realized that my strength is in theater and film, so now I am focusing on that. I’m very proud of everything I achieved because I never had any connection with the theater world, other than being an audience member, and I built myself up from nothing. I learned everything I know from each person I met, from each project I made, and I continue to develop and expand as an artist every single day. I am now looking to develop my own projects, that involve, immigrant actors as well as international works. Besides that, I am looking to develop a different, catchy way of doing Shakespeare for the masses along with my partners Hraban Luyat and Iain McLellan, so I have my full focus on that, as well as continuing auditioning and submitting myself for projects. I found on my own, that these days you can’t just wait for a project to fall on your lap, you must continuously keep yourself busy and making your own work in parallel, that will eventually result in connections and networking with other artists. My advice would be to do everything and anything you get your hands on, don’t be precious about it, work as many projects as you can, because it will develop you as a person and you’ll walk so much more confidently in the audition room knowing who you are, and what you got to offer.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I don’t think that this is a society matter. I think it’s up to us as artists to get better at keeping each other close. I’m speaking for immigrant actors, but is equally valid for local artists as well. Keep your community tight, help each other because it is very difficult to build this career by yourself in the beginning, so don’t be afraid to lean on each other. Do you have a friend that’s good with the camera? Great, get together and do something. Record self tapes often, even as practice. that will tell your brain that you are working, even though it might not look like that. Keeping yourself busy mentally will help you not give up once it gets hard. And if you surround yourself with likeminded people, then those creative juices keep flowing and eventually, you are gonna get an idea about a project that you can do together. I feel that this relationship with our own peers is very undervalued, and it’s a pity, because that is your first network that is just there, easy for you to access. What creates a thriving ecosystem? Well in our case, it should be building each other up. Competition is toxic, and it will not help you achieve your goals. Be happy for your friends that book things, be thrilled, it’s not denying in any way your talent and your path to success. So to sum it up, it’s in each other’s best interest to build a community with the people we know, that is healthy, supportive and creative. We are our own society and we’re the ones that are in charge of our own careers.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I have many goals, but one of them is to walk the path to be able to help immigrant actors to achieve their dreams. This world is not as exclusive as it may look, but it takes great patience, and developing a thick skin so you can flourish in it. I, unfortunately, had to decipher this world pretty much on my own, and it has not been easy at all. I aim to be able to provide information for artists and a safe space where they can grow and build up their own careers, knowing there’s a place that has their backs.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elenalozonschi.com
- Instagram: @elenalozonschi
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/elena-lozonschi
Image Credits
Hraban Luyat, Sabrina DiGeorge