The play has had numerous workshops around the country — at such places as New York Theatre Workshop, The Women's Project and the Lark Play Development Center — but this production is the play's professional debut in the U.S.
Benjamin Mosse directs a cast that includes Elizabeth Atkeson, Jason Lawergren, Kathryn Kates, Alexis McGuinness, Tony Naumovsky, Grant Neale, Dan Shaked and Marnye Young. Scenic design is by Kanae Heike, costume design is by Alixandra Gage, and sound design is by Sharath Patel.
On April 12, following the performance, there will be a talkback with the playwright Stanescu, the director Mosse, Richard Schechner (artistic director of East Coast Artists) and Corina Suteu (director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York).
According to press notes, in the play, "Romanian cosmetologist Daniela Popescu arrives in the United States as the soon-to-be bride of the sexually repressed computer engineer, Charlie Aronson. As Daniela seeks to adjust to her new life with Charlie in the land of dreams, Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu — formerly dictator and wife of Romania, but now vampires — haunt her, making her life miserable."
Stanescu's plays include Aurolac Blues, Yokastas and Final Countdown, and she is collaborating with novelist Paul Auster on a dramatization of his critically acclaimed novel, "Timbuktu," tentatively scheduled for performance in 2008. East Coast Artists presents plays with an intercultural or global perspective.
The play is at La MaMa E.T.C. (First Floor Theater), 74A East Fourth Street in Manhattan. For tickets call (212) 475-7710 or visit www.lamama.org. For more information visit www.eastcoastartists.org.