Baruch Performing Arts Center Presents The World Premiere Of REFUGE

Baruch Performing Arts Center, along with New York-based theater company Blessed Unrest and Teatri ODA of Kosovo, will co-present the World Premiere of Refuge from April 25 - May 11 @ 7:30, with a variable weekly schedule and a 5pm performance Sun May 5 (Opening Night April 27) at Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue (25 Street between Third and Lexington Avenues), NYC. Tickets are $16-36 and may be purchased at www.baruch.cuny.edu/bpac.

The Refuge creative team and performerswill host a series of events to accompany the performances. Post-performance programs can deepen the experience of the many current topics touched upon by this play. The programs will explore topics such as the journeys of refugees historically and in the current currently climate, as well as diving into the personal as well as the global Jewish experience. Along with the creative team, the programs will include diverse guest speakers who add additional richness and perspective to the discussions. With a ticket to any performance of Refuge, admission to the programs is free. One ticket to Refuge grants admission to any and all of the programs.

Wednesday, May 1: Post-Performance Discussion

Refuge in Context: Activism, Education, and #Resistance

A post-performance program on combating hate in the modern day, with a focus on refugee protection and advocacy. Featuring Anne Frank Center Education Director Katherine Meade, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) Executive Board Member and activist Rafael Shimunov, and a representative from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS).

Sunday, May 5 at 6:30pm: MOTH-style Story Slam

Prepare a 5-minute story about those who have helped your family survive persecution or threat to life, or how you were taken in during some time of crisis. Have you welcomed a refugee from another country, simply hosted a neighbor who lost their keys, or have you found cover under a

stranger's umbrella in a downpour? Share your story of a lifesaving or simple moment of refuge that was life-altering. (Time limit: 5 minutes).

Register: http://bit.ly/2UhUTzp

Monday, May 6: Post-Performance Discussion

Refuge in Context: Displacement and Narrative During the Holocaust

A post-performance program on the refugee crisis in Europe during World War II exploring the relevance of Jewish and Muslim stories today. Featuring Jessica Lang, Professor of English and Director of Jewish Studies at Baruch; Debra Caplan, Assistant Professor of Theatre at Baruch and author of Yiddish Empire: Jews, Theater, and the Aesthetics of Itinerancy; and Elidor

Melhili, Assistant Professor of History at Hunter, and author of From Stalin to Mao: Albania and the Socialist World. Moderated by Jessica Burr, co-director of Refuge.

In Refuge, a deathbed confession launches a young Jewish woman on a journey of discovery to a remote Albanian village. What she finds reveals both the truth of her family's escape, and those who risked everything to provide them with refuge.

NYC-based Blessed Unrest teams up with Teatri ODA from Kosovo and musicians from Metropolitan Klezmer for this world-premiere devised physical-theatre piece based on actual events. During World War II, thousands of Jewish refugees were harbored by families in Albania, most of whom were practicing Muslims. Despite Nazi occupation, no Jews were taken to concentration camps from Albania, and it was the only country in Europe with more Jews at the end of the war than at the beginning. The Albanians took in people with whom they did not share language, religion, or culture, sheltering them as honored guests and defending them with their lives. Refuge shines light on this little-known history, with the current backdrop of anti-Semitic attacks, the refugee crisis in Europe, and our own nation's attempts to close our doors to refugees and migrants.

Refuge is the third original play created by the two companies since 2005. They have toured together six times through the Balkans, in Western Europe, and in New York, including the first-ever US/Kosovar theatre project in the United States. Their production of Doruntine was awarded first prize at the 2016 Secondo Festival in Zurich, Switzerland. Following its world premiere production at Baruch Performing Arts Center, Refuge will tour to Western Europe and the Balkans in 2020.