About life in the oppressive years of communist Romania. ‘I Hope I Wouldn’t Meet Myself Today’ depicts the insidious terror, moral decay and personal redemption through the destiny of a young woman torn apart by the painful failure of an unhappy marriage, the humiliations of everyday life in a dictatorship and the harassments of which she is subjected by the feared Securitate. Unfolding as a long, tormented monologue by the heroine herself, the performance celebrates the inner strength and courage of an ordinary woman who refuses to surrender her dignity and hope in the most difficult circumstances.  

Hope I Wouldn’t Meet Myself Today . Playwright: Herta Müller, Nobel Prize recipient. Translated and directed by: Simona Maicanescu. Cast: Simona Maicanescu.

Simona Maicanescu is an actress who has performed in diverse rolls, including Viola in Twelfth Night and Solange in The Maids. She has worked in both Romania and France with directors Sanda Manu, Càtàlina Buzoianu, Silviu Purcàrete, Lucian Pintilie, Andrei Serban, Tompa Gabor, Sandu Dabija. She has recently branched out into a new realms as both playwright and translator with her adaptation of Herta Müller’s book I Hope I wouldn’t Meet Myself Today. Maicanescu graduated from the Bucharest Academy of Arts.

Herta Müller is recipient of the Nobel Prize. The performance I Hope I Wouldn’t Meet Myself Today is a dramatization of her book which was translated into English with the title The Appointment. Müller’s story revolves around a Romanian worker who is terrorized by the Ceausescu`s Securitate. Müller read German studies and Romanian literature at Timisoara University. 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, Müller left for Germany with her husband, novelist Richard Wagner. In 1995 Müller was awarded membership to the German Academy for Writing and Poetry.