What does it mean to leave everything behind for a better future? In a desperate search for a new life, the poorest fall prey to unscrupulous exploitation. The American Emperor centers on the migration of Jews from the poorest region of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, Galicia, during the late 19th century. It follows the story of impoverished siblings Mendel and Rifke Beck as the promise of a better life in America looms large. While Mendel leaves for the New World, Rifke stays behind and moves up from her domestic role into one of a leader.
The American Emperor (2018). Written by: Michal Ditte (Slovakia), based on a book by Martin Pollack. Director: Jacquelyn Claire de Villiers. Cast: Elizabeth Andrews (Rifke), Michaela Boruta (Slovak Name Litany), Jennette Cronk (Bertha Pappenheim, Trade Unionist), Michael Frishman (Mendel), Zane Gillion (Anti-Semite, Octopus, Boss, Galician), Pierre Louis le Grange (Mathias Komara, Galician), Megan Metrikin (Legend, Statue of Liberty, Galician), Caren Skibell (Translator, Receptionist, Galician), Drew Valins (John Doe, Workman). Stage directions: Megan Metrikin. Traslated by: Lucia Faltin. Zoom background design: Anna Niklova. Dialect coach: Michaela Boruta. Running time: 90 min.
The play is based on the book Kaiser von Amerika: Die große Flucht aus Galizien (Emperor of America: The Big Escape from Galicia) (2010) by Austrian journalist and award-winning writer Martin Pollack. The publication focuses on the 1880s exodus of Galician Jews from the poor and increasingly anti-Semitic eastern stretches of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day southeastern Poland and western Ukraine). Peasants, craftsman and other departers had to endure various struggles along their journey to the promised land. They became vulnerable to dishonest smuggler gangs, speculators, customs agents and fraudsters of all kinds. Michal Ditte’s adaptation builds on the book’s facts, events, newspaper articles and the fate of a real person, Mendel Beck. Ditte’s story about the past bears a striking resemblance to the ongoing anguishes of migrants today.
The American Emperor (2018) received the 2018 DOSKY Award of the Slovak Association of Contemporary Theater for best production.
The performance is followed by Q&A. It is free and open to the public.
For more information, visit the festival website www.rehearsalfortruth.org.
This event will be broadcasted online, live on Zoom.us. RSVP is required to receive password for free viewing. RSVP online through Eventbrite.
ABOUT THE 2020 SPRING WEEKEND
The 2020 Spring Weekend: The Unimaginable of Reality is organized by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation (VHLF) and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA) in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute New York and Untitled Theater Company #61. Spring Weekend is part of the Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival honoring the playwright and human rights activist Vaclav Havel. The 2020 edition showcases contemporary European plays through live online readings performed and directed by New York City–based actors and directors. The program has been conceived in consultation with Attila Szabo, Deputy Director, Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute; Vladislava Fekete, Director, Theatre Institute in Bratislava; Zuzana Ulicianska, Chair, the Slovak Center - International Association of Theatre Critics. and Tomek Smolarski, Performing Arts Programming, Polish Cultural Institute New York. It is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.