Spring Weekend: Hoped I Wouldn't Meet Myself Today at Bohemian National Hall

Saturday, May 11th at 8pm (Full Length Production): Hoped I Wouldnt Meet Myself Today by Herta MullerTranslated, Performed & Directed by Simona Maicanescu Performed in BNH Ballroom.The Play:Set in Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Lili 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 inspectors office to receive the verdict. But the inspector takes a personal interest in her case; that is, he is takes a personal interest in her.The Playwright:Herta Mller (born 17 August 1953) is a Romanian-born German novelist, poet, essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Nichidorf, Timi County in Romania, her native language is German. Since the early 1990s she has been internationally established, and her works have been translated into more than twenty languages. Mller is noted for her works depicting the effects of violence, cruelty and terror, usually in the setting of the Socialist Republic of Romania under the repressive Nicolae Ceauescu regime which she has experienced herself. The Director:Simona Maicanescu was born in Craiova, Romania, where she performed under the direction of Silviu Purcarete, Lucian Pintilie, Tompa Gabor, and Andrei Serban. After performing in a French-Romanian production presented at the Avignon Festival, she was invited to perform in 1994 at Odon Theatre in Paris, where she worked with Andr Wilms, Lukas Hemleb, and Jean-Franois Peyret. She then decided to move to France to continue acting. She has since performed in both French and English, with credits ranging from Norns, War, and Molires, Tartuffe, to the French TV series Engrenages and movies like Dante 01, Stowaways, and Splice. All shows are performed in English.After every stage reading/production there will be talk backs with the artists followed by a small reception hosted by the featured countrys cultural institution.***The program is organized by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation and the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association, and is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Polish Cultural Institute, Romanian Cultural Institute, Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York and Consulate General of the Slovak Republic in New York.