Translated by Zuzana Flašková
Directed by Patrice Miller
With: Olivia Baseman, Hershel Blatt, Adam Files, Andrea Gallo, Rose Kanj, Katelynn Kennedy Staggs, Nalina Mann, Derrick Peterson, Matthew Trumbull, Katarina Vizina
The threads of the past and present collide and interweave as four friends and their families take radically different paths in an effort to give themselves new lives after the dissolution of their home country. The protagonist ("She") is at the center of this web, listening to those who have stayed and tried to build new lives in the shadow of violence; to those who immigrated thousands of miles live and simultaneously in the open and in isolation; and to her teenage goddaughter, who wants to know what's wrong with all of these adults and when She can visit. Who are you when your home no longer exists on a map? Can divorce stop the cycle of violence? Is her mother's phone bugged by the party? If so, why won't she stop calling?
Followed by a post show discussion
Part of Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival honoring Vaclav Havel, produced by the Václav Havel Center and the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.
in association with Untitled Theater Company No. 61 and the Consulate General of Slovakia in New York
Part of Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival honoring Václav Havel, produced by the Václav Havel Center and the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.
About
Vladislava Fekete studied dramaturgy at Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, where she also defended her dissertation there in 2009. She is an author of television and radio scripts, coordinates theatre workshops and symposiums. She is a director and dramaturg, and cooperates with theatres in Slovakia and abroad. She translates contemporary Serbian drama and theory to Slovak (Aleksandra Jovićević and Ana Vujanović: An Introduction to Performance Studies; Jovan Hristić: Chekhov, the Playwright, plays of Biljana Srbljanović, Nebojša Romčević, Milena Marković, Milena Bogavac, Maja Pelević and other.) Since July 2006 she is director of Theatre Institute Bratislava and director of the festival of contemporary Slovak and world drama Nová dráma/New Drama. She initiated the Theatre Research Centre as a new department of the Theatre Institute and many other projects orientated on the creation and reflection of contemporary Slovak drama for children and adults, including the research project History of Slovak Drama of the 20th century.
Patrice Miller: director-choreographer and performance artist best known for her interdisciplinary performance making. Notably directed the premieres of This Joint is Jumpin featuring Lillias White (The Other Palace, London), Brian Boone’s The Testament of Josh: A Flesh and Blood Musical, James Judd’s Funny Stories (Crown & Anchor, Provincetown), In the Pines (AUSTRAL Buenos Aires, Argentina). Acclaimed NYC productions: Mad Jenny’s Love und Greed, Sarah Jane Johnson’s Devil in the Box, Maggie Cino's Decompression, Marion Fayolle’s In Pieces, Evelyn Piper’s Bunny Lake is Missing. Artistic Associate of Untitled Theater Company #61 choreographing: Paul Auster’s City of Glass, Vaclav Havel’s The Pig … , Money Lab. Installation/performance art work includes work for The Brooklyn Museum, Prelude/CUNY Grad Center, SUNY Stonybrook; Steve Valk & Michael Klein’s Excavation: Martha Graham Company (COIL); Grace Exhibition Space, Postmasters Gallery, NYLA, Performa, NYC Fashionweek. They are also a death doula and enthusiastic cat lady.
Cast
Olivia Baseman has been working in independent and experimental theater in NYC since the early 2000s Favorite credits include “The War Of Woo” (Gene Frankel), “The Big Funk” (Circle In The Square) ”Boys Life” (TSP) Hamlet, Or I Shall Mourn The Rivers (The Brick) and many original experimental works with Gemini Collisionworks where she is a company member. Favorite film & TV credits include “Elementary”(CBS) Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” and the iconic “Rick James” sketch on “Chappell's show” (Comedy Central).
Hershel Blatt is an actor and writer born and raised in Toronto. Theater credits include: Exagoge (La MaMa/UTC61), Summer of Semitism (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre), A Bear Awake in Winter (Canadian Stage/Next Stage Theatre Festival), The Stone Woman (Let Me In), as well as workshops of new plays across the U.S and Canada. Film and TV: “The Madness,” “The Love Club,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” “The Boys,” “Wedding Season,” “What Would Sal Do,” “White Lie.” Voice: Motivated! (Broadway Video/Audible). As a playwright, he has been workshopping his first play Ahava Later. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto.
Hershel Blatt is an actor and writer born and raised in Toronto. Theater credits include: Exagoge (La MaMa/UTC61), Summer of Semitism (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre), A Bear Awake in Winter (Canadian Stage/Next Stage Theatre Festival), The Stone Woman (Let Me In), as well as workshops of new plays across the U.S and Canada. Film and TV: “The Madness,” “The Love Club,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” “The Boys,” “Wedding Season,” “What Would Sal Do,” “White Lie.” Voice: Motivated! (Broadway Video/Audible). As a playwright, he has been workshopping his first play Ahava Later. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto.
Adam Files doesn’t know how to write bios. He’s pretty sure he was born, and that reality is not an illusion created by an evil demon. His father was a theatre coach. And so doomed him to a life of art, culture, and poverty. His mother was very patient. She bought him lunches at least once a week for all 5 years of college, listening to the idiot's grand plans for his life. He moved to NYC cause it seemed like it was that or LA. And c’mon. LA? P'shaw. He does work on the stage and screen. Mostly reenactment TV shows, and student films. He’s done hundreds of stage shows. He’s a series regular in “It’s Getting Tired Mildred” a soap opera for the stage running for almost a decade. Despite the cynicism endemic in live theater he still loves it, and the people who do it. www.adamfiles.com
Andrea Gallo: New York: Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother Night; The Respectful Prostitute; Ring Round the Moon; world premieres of Strings, The Velvet Oratorio, Frankie, Coney, and The Chaos Theories. Regional: The Niceties, Chester Theatre Company; The Last Romance and Private Lives, Riverside Theatre; Third, TheaterWorks Hartford; Good People, St. Louis Rep; Over the River and Through the Woods, Florida Rep; The Last Romance and The Language Archive, Public Theatre; Mercy and the Firefly, Luna Stage; Murderers, Hudson Stage; A View From The Bridge, Nevada Rep; Eden Prairie, 1971, Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, Evie’s Waltz, Tilt Angel, tempOdyssey, Broomstick and Donna Orbits the Moon, NJ Rep; What Every Woman Knows, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Noises Off, Lettice and Lovage, I’m Not Rappaport, Horse Cave Theatre. TV/Film: City on a Hill, Law and Order: SVU, Sober, Look on the Bright Side, The Query, Chasing Taste and Across Dot Ave.
Rose Kanj is a NYC-based actress, vocalist, and improviser. She is passionate about the art of storytelling and especially loves to collaborate on new works. Recently Rose wrote, produced, and starred in her own autobiographical cabaret, Rose Kanj: Loving Me, at Theaterlab. Other select credits include: Emilia & Bianca in Othello (New Place Players); Emilie in The Moors and Brenda in Election Day (ASDS Repertory Season); Valerie in Record (The Tank & Alchemical Studios); and Wrestling With Freedom by Jacqui Parker (Hibernian Hall). MFA, Acting from Actors Studio Drama School; BA, Music from Berklee College of Music. @rose.kanj | www.RoseKanj.com
Nalina Mann was last seen as Portia in Untitled Theatre Company No. 61's production of The Shylock & the Shakespeareans.. Other credits: The Stranger - Alma/Baya (UTC61), White Woman - In White America (New Federalist Theater), Chairy - Barnum (Westchester Bway), The Countess - It Pays to Advertise (Metropolitan Playhouse), Constance - Three Musketeers (Wings Theatre), Raina - Arms & the Man (Pulse Ensemble Theatre), Haley - Dear Prudence (Rattlestick). Training: Sarah Lawrence College, École Jacques Lecoq. www.nalinamann.com
Derrick Peterson: As of late, Derrick has primarily been seen in the works of Matthew Gasda (All the Mournful Voices, Ardor, Afters, Salt.) He has also worked extensively with Obvious Volcano (Unsex Me Here, Lost Adult, Three Sisters, Warm Enough For Swimming) and Gemini Collisionworks (Enterprise, Harakiri Kane, CANT, My First Autograce Homeography 1973-1974.) He regularly appears as Parker Donovan in the live monthly soap opera, It's Getting Tired Mildred.
Katelynn Kennedy Staggs. She/Her. Katelynn trained at the Professional Performing Arts School in Midtown Manhattan as a drama major, studying with faculty from Waterwell. She is currently a student at Pace University in New York City where she will be getting her BFA in Acting in 2026. Recent work includes Gorilla Rep’s iPhone Macbeth, and Hamlet. She is very excited to be a part of this production! She would also like to thank her mother; Lynda and her father Tom for their love and their support, she couldn’t do it without them! @vintage_galnextdoor
Matthew Trumbull: At Bohemian National Hall: THE VELVET ORATORIO. Theatre: Untitled Theater Company No. 61: NEUROLOGY OF THE SOUL; Flux Theatre Ensemble: DEINDE, MARIAN, OR THE TRUE TALE OF ROBIN HOOD (New York Innovative Theatre Award nominee, Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role), OUR OPTIONS HAVE CHANGED. Gideon Productions: VIRAL; Tin Drum Productions and the Brick Theater: THE TEMPLE, OR LEBENSRAUM (New York Innovative Theatre Award, Outstanding Lead Performance). Theater Accident: WHY WE LEFT BROOKLYN. Solo Theatre--THE ZEBRA SHIRT OF LONELY CHILDREN (FringeNYC Award, Solo Performance; Audience Pick, Minnesota Fringe Festival). Narrative Audio: Audible: WITNESS; Gideon Media: GIVE ME AWAY; Sarah Elizabeth Grace: NORA'S DRAGON; Storytelling: The Moth Mainstage; Soundtrack Series; No You Tell It!
ABOUT THE 2024 REHEARSAL FOR TRUTH INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL
Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival, honoring Václav Havel, is a showcase of contemporary European theater organized each year in New York City. Conceived in 2017 as a shared endeavor of the Václav Havel Center (VHC) and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA), the festival honors the legacy of Czech playwright, dissident and political thinker Vaclav Havel.
Each edition of Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival addresses current sociopolitical trends in Central and Eastern Europe, offering New York audiences a unique opportunity to witness the region’s theatrical zeitgeist.
The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. The festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.