Spring Weekend: I Hope I Wouldn’t Meet Myself Today

[4th Floor] Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival’s Spring Weekend presents “I Hope I Wouldn’t Meet Myself Today,” a play by Romanian writer Herta Muller, Nobel Prize recipient, set in Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Lili, the main character, works in a Romanian factory making fine men’s overcoats for export to Italy. Her love life is a mess – she has a live-in male friend who spends all of his time and most of her money drinking the day away. Lili also has a secret: she inserts notes which say “Marry me!,” and include her name and address, into the linings of the coats she sews. When her notes are discovered, Lili knows she could face unemployment or even imprisonment. She is summoned to the inspector’s office to receive the verdict. But the inspector takes a personal interest in her case.

“I Hope I Wouldn’t Meet Myself Today” by Herta Muller, Nobel Prize recipient, translated and directed by Simona Maicanescu. Full Production, Romania.

HERTA MULLER is recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. The performance Hoped I Wouldn’t Meet Myself Today is a dramatization of her book which was translated into English with the title The Appointment. Muller read German and Romanian literature at Timisoara University in Romania. In 1976, she began working as a translator for an engineering company, but in 1979 was dismissed for her refusal to cooperate with the Securitate, the Communist regime’s secret police. Her first book was published in Romania (in German) in 1982, and appeared only in a censored version.In 1987, Muller left for Germany with her husband, novelist Richard Wagner. In 1995 Muller was awarded membership to the German Academy for Writing and Poetry.

SIMONA MAICANESCU is an actress who has performed in diverse rolls, including Viola in Twelfth Nightand Solange in The Maids. She has worked in both Romania and France under directors Sanda Manu, Catalina Buzoianu, Silviu Purcarete, Lucian Pintilie, Andrei Serban, Tompa Gabor, and Sandu Dabija. She has recently branched out into new realms as both playwright and translator with her adaptation of Herta Muller’s book Hoped I wouldn’t Meet Myself Today. She received Master’s degree from the Bucharest Academy of Arts.

Free and open to the public. Space is limited, on first come, first served basis. RSVP online at Eventbrite.

REHEARSAL FOR TRUTH THEATER FESTIVAL’S SPRING WEEKEND is a showcase of emerging Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, and Slovak playwrights whose work reflects on current social and political issues. The plays have been translated into English and feature local New York performers and directors who will have the opportunity to try out these works onstage as part of the European Month of Culture. The program includes a full Romanian production as well.

SPRING WEEKEND is organized by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation (VHLF) and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA), in collaboration with Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York, Consulate General of the Slovak Republic in New York, the Polish Cultural Institute, the Romanian Cultural Institute, and Untitled Theater Company #61. The cultural institutions of these five countries collaborate with VHLF to select the plays as well as arrange trips for some of the chosen playwrights to New York City to participate in the rehearsals, stage reading performances, and discussions with the audience after the shows.

The program is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

From the Bohemian National Hall.