Business as Usual (ESTONIA)
By Mehis Pihla
A comic thriller that mixes wall street-style misdeeds with mafia-style consequences, based on the real Estonian banking scandal in which Russian oligarchs used Estonian banks to launder their money into the EU.
Directed by Alexander Harrington
There will be a post-show reception with the playwright.
Presented with the Consulate General of Estonia in New York
About
Mehis Pihla (playwright) is an Estonian playwright, screenwriter, and stage director. He graduated from the University of Tartu with a degree in Semiotics and later completed his studies in Dramaturgy at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Since 2018, Pihla has worked as a playwright and director at the Estonian Drama Theater. He has been nominated for Director of the Year in Estonia. He has written successfully for variety of genres: plays, stand-up, TV-series, feature film. He wrote the script of Kalev; which was acclaimed as the Best Estonian Film of 2022. His play Business As Usual is nominated for Estonian play of the year in 2024.
Alexander Harrington (director) has directed at New York theaters including Metropolitan Playhouse, La MaMa, The Culture Project, Queens Theatre, and The Actors Studio. Regionally, he has directed in Maryland, New Hampshire, Upstate New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina. He has also directed at Louisiana State, Clemson, and Bentley Universities. As a playwright, he has adapted and directed Chekhov’s The Kiss, Sherwood Anderson’s The Philosopher, and a two-part adaptation of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov; translated and directed Aeschylus’ Agamemnon; and written The Great Society about Lyndon Johnson (not to be confused with Robert Schenkkan’s play of the same title and subject).
Part of Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival honoring Václav Havel, produced by the Vaclav Havel Center and the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.
ABOUT THE 2025 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.