August 8, 1943) was a Romanian film and theater director, critic, dramatist, poet, journalist, and fascist political activist.
[1] Acterian was also noted for his friendships with the writer and historian of religions Mircea Eliade, the philosopher Petre Țuțea, and the British dramatist Edward Gordon Craig.
Haig studied at the Mircea cel Bătrân High School in his native city, then attended the Spiru Haret National College [ro] in Bucharest.
[4] Upon graduation, Acterian enrolled at both the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Philosophy, and the Conservatory of Dramatic Art, where he studied drama and comedy under Lucia Sturdza-Bulandra.
[2] In 1930, Acterian traveled to Berlin, where he closely followed developments in German theater, and came to admire the achievements of the locals Max Reinhardt, Heinz Hilpert, Erwin Piscator, Karlheinz Martin, as well as those of Soviet director Vsevolod Meyerhold.
[2] Upon his return, he staged R. C. Sherriff's Journey's End (translated into Romanian as Călătoria din urmă), receiving critical acclaim.
[8][9] Rejecting his early political ideas, he soon became a disciple of Nae Ionescu and Trăirism, and later a supporter of the far right Iron Guard movement.
[citation needed] Taking in view his many interests, as well as his "technical expertise and spiritual synthesis", Eliade defined him as a "Renaissance man".
[13] Writing in 1989, literary critic Constantin Măciucă deplored Acterian's political choices and his "occasional negative generalizations", but noted his merits in supporting a national specificity in Romanian dramaturgy.