Career
During the 1990s and early 2000s, Ecaterina was employed by the National Theatre in Bucharest. Early stage and film work
A native of Valea Ursului, Neamţ County, Nazare began as a stage actress in the early 1980s, when she became employed at the Toma Caragiu Theatre in Ploieşti (1981). During the same decade, she appeared in plays such as Paul Everac"s Don Juan, Ion Luca Caragiale"s Doctorate-ale carnavalului and Dumitru Radu Popescu"s Aceşti îngeri trişti, all under theatre director Dragoş Galgoţiu.
Then, in 1985, she starred as Maria in the Dan Pița film, Pas în doi.
Her performance once again garnered her the ACIN Award for Best Actress. In 1986 she had a prolific year, appearing in The Shadows of the Sun (Umbrele soarelui), O clipă de ragaz and Battle in the Shadows (Bătălia din umbră).
In 1988, Nazare starred as "Mama" in the film Cîntec in zori. Directed by Dinu Tănase, she starred alongside actors such as Dan Condurache, Ion Fiscuteanu, Remus Mărgineanu, Ionel Mihăilescu, Irina Petrescu, Mitică Popescu et cetera
She followed this in 1990 with the film Sanda.
National Theatre stage acting
In 1990, after the Romanian Revolution toppled the communist regime, she left the film industry and the theatre she had been performing at in Ploieşti amongst her cinematic appearances and concentrated on national stage acting at the main National Theatre in Bucharest. She would appear in many national production throughout the 1990s. In 1990 she made a number of stage performances under the directorship of Andrei Șerban, including as Liz Morden in Cine are nevoie de teatru? (after Timberlake Wertenbaker), Andromache in Şerban"s Troienele - O tragedie greacă and Audiţia, based on Michael Bennett.
In 1991 she played Varvara in the play Morişca by Ion Luca under the directorship of George Motoi and later amongst other roles, Orseta in Carlo Goldoni"s Le baruffe chiozzotte (Gâlcevile din Chioggia) under the supervision of Dana Dima.
In the early 1990s she also appeared in a show based on Shakespeare"s sonnets and in Orpheus in the Underworld, both led by Mihai Manolescu. In 1994 she appeared in Federico Garcia Lorca"s play The House of Bernarda Alba and in 1995, in Der Park (Parcul) by Botho Strauß, under the helm of Tudor Ţepeneag.
She would later again be directed by Ţepeneag in 2004"s production, Povestiri din zona interzisă. Later in 2004 she played the character of Beatrice in Arthur Miller"s A View from the Bridge, directed by Vladimir Ilniţchi, and in 2008 portrayed Mihaela in Rodica Popescu Bitănescu"s Încă-i bine.
Return to cinema
She returned to cinema briefly in 2002 in the film Bless You, Prison (Binecuvântata fii, închisoare) in which she played a prisoner.
The film, directed by Stere Gulea, was released on March 20, 2009 and co-starred actors such as Medeea Marinescu, Adela Popescu, Tudor Istodor, Ion Săpdaru, Constantin Ghenescu and Gheorghe Dinică.