“Mia”, or One Story of the Ill Body and the Transformative Force of Theater podium
28 JUNI 2019 18:00

“Mia”, or One Story of the Ill Body and the Transformative Force of Theater

Ort:

“Mia” is one of the plays from The Rebelled Body Plays, a volume by Cătălina Florina Florescu released recently and already requested to be part of famous collections, such as the Lincoln Library for the Performing Arts in New York and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

This spring, the play had its first stage reading directed by Handan Ozbilgin (https://events.cuny.edu/cec/mia/) With the same director we hope to see it performed next year in New York.

<<During the presentation in Vienna, I would like to talk about the sources of inspiration for the play and to read some lines. With this play I had the honor to talk at Harvard in an invited guest talk, as well as at New York University during an event organized by the Drama Therapy program. 

The visibility of this type of cancer is extremely important. On the one hand, we need to learn how to talk about the ill human body. On the other hand, we need to own our bodies and realize what works and what does not work for them and thus for us. The more sincere and knowledgeable we are, the more confident we become when we talk to a doctor and when we seek ways to mend the body in pain. 

Theater bridges the personal with the social by refining our experiences. Therefore, through “Mia” I have the opportunity to educate the public to learn how to build a relationship of mutual trust with the medical community, as well as how to discover the lexicon of pain plus its necessary tools for healing.  Through “Mia,” I bring on stage what we may sometimes feel ashamed to talk even in private. Cancer is never about only one person’s diagnosis because, after all, bodies break. It is about how theater and the arts can be therapeutically involved to help us discover the complex emotions that are within us.>>  (Cătălina Florina Florescu)

Bio: Cătălina Florina Florescu holds a Ph.D. in medical humanities and comparative theater conferred by Purdue University. She teaches theater, cinema, and writing at Pace University. She has authored books that are catalogued at prestigious universities and has been invited to give talks at Sorbonne, Columbia, New York University, Harvard, etc. She is also a playwright with volumes published bilingually and with plays currently considered for production in New York and London. She has recently switched her attention from academic to creative writing and has also joined New Jersey Theater Center where she works as a curator for New Plays Festival. More about her work can be found here: https://www.catalinaflorescu.com/

Where: Romanian Cultural Institute Vienna, Argentinierstrasse 39

When: June 28, 6 pm

Our events are free and seating is available on a first-come-first-served basis.