Lowlands is an Eastern-European OUR TOWN set in Ceausescu's Romania. Panaintes modular dramaturgy releases voices from ou collective consciousness and creates performative space to witness our silences morning fresh and decades old. Lowlands is both a memory play and surrealist vision animated from a child's perspective. It is with awe and love that we call on community to gather around this version of Herta Müllers text on its 40th anniversary of a first publication. Together with her words we will celebrate the divine resistance that girls carry in their soul the world over for all of us.

Lowlands, Romania. Written by: Nobel Prize Winner Herta Müller. Adapted for stage by: Mihaele Panainte. Translated by: Dr Jozefina Komporaly. Directed by: Natália Gleason-Nagy.

Introduction by dramaturg Katie Rey Bogdan. Talkback moderated by Patrick Crawley Phd.

The stage reading will be followed by contrasting high-art afterlife a child-size concert inspired by the German musical tradition of Lieder as composed by Matthew Brown. We will close with a community conversation about the topics contained in the show: creators and their processes (writing, directing, composing, dramaturgy) , imprints of war and dictatorship, life in rural communities, life as a cultural/ethnic minority, collective memory, the child's view, adapting/translating contemporary works.

This is a first rehearsal, open to the public, for a fully staged workshop of the play which will be shown at the Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival on June 23.

Free and open to the public. Online registration required.

The Spring Stage Readings is part of the 2024 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival: Dark Dreams organized by the Vaclav Havel Center (VHC) and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA).

The program 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. The festival is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.