BBS Faculty Member

Chris Simion-Mercurian is a theatre director, writer and cultural entrepreneur, and the founder and artistic director of Grivița 53 in Bucharest, the first theatre built from scratch in Romania in decades. In 2016 she sold her grandmother’s house to buy the ruined site on Calea Grivitei. She then launched the “We sell bricks, we build a theatre” campaign, which drew around 14,000 supporters. Together with Tiberiu Mercurian, she completed a €4.5 million, four-floor building funded by private investment, sponsorships and grants, including €1.7 million from EEA funds. Grivița 53 was inaugurated in September 2025 and opened its programme in December with the show 5+3=9. It operates as a project theatre, open to both experienced and young artists.

A graduate of the National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” in Bucharest, she holds degrees in Theatre Studies and Theatre Directing and a PhD in Theatre, awarded summa cum laude. In 1999 she co-founded D’AYA with French writer Pascal Bruckner, one of Romania’s first independent theatre companies. She also founded the UNDERCLOUD independent theatre festival.

As a director, she has signed more than 40 productions at venues including the National Theatre Bucharest, Bulandra, ARCUB, the State Jewish Theatre, Metropolis and the Comedy Theatre. Her work has been shown in over 20 countries and at more than 30 festivals.

• Author of 11 books, several of them bestsellers, among them 40 de zile, Ce ne spunem când nu ne vorbim and Imperativele adolescenței.
• Member of the Romanian Writers’ Union since 2009.
• Recipient of the “Cultural Merit” distinction from the Presidency of Romania (2021), plus a distinction from the Royal House of Romania.
• Grivița 53 inspired the International Alliance of Independent Theatre, an initiative of the International Association of Theatre Leaders.