Performance Dates: Friday, June 10th at 8pm and Saturday, June 11th at 6pm & 8pm. Runtime: approx. 60 minutes. Italytime Cultural Center, 238 Bleecker Street. NY, NY 10014. For tickets click here. 

Co-producers Federica Borlenghi and Covi Loveridge Brannan are proud to present Reminiscence, a community-based performance exploring the experience of international women living in New York City. Investigating themes of language, cultural expression, and familial separation, this piece invites audiences to consider what it means to exist between places called “home”. 

Inspired by facilitated conversations between six international strangers aged 21 to 37, this lyrical work spotlights a key aspect of living abroad: gaining fluency in a new language at the expense of your mother tongue. With over eight languages spoken, this sensorial story uses music and movement to highlight the confusion and ecstasy of translingual communication.

“When I was approached by Italytime Cultural Center to create a project investigating the international experience, I was excited to begin working on this piece which has been swimming around in my head for a long time” says Borlenghi, playwright and director. “With a mission to encourage new generations of international artists to “nurture their dreams, discover their identity, and build a better world”, Italytime felt like the perfect place to delve into this ambitious project, which draws on my own experience as an Italian artist living abroad. I met Vittorio Caporto, Artistic Director at Italytime Cultural Center in 2017, and we have been collaborating since then.” Borlenghi started off at the organization as volunteer, to then become a member of the team. Since then, she has produced various productions, including “Ah, Love!” an evening of one acts featuring a play of hers, the well-known Paolo Tartamella and the legendary Dacia Maraini. Reminiscence marks producers Borlenghi & Brannan’s second collaboration with Italytime, following the success of their site-specific festival HERE: An Evening of Plays by Covi Loveridge Brannan in December 2018.

This production also marks the first collaboration between Borlenghi and Tania Kass, Italian actress based in Brooklyn, known for “Money Heist The Experience”, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Playhouse on Park, her lead role in Don’t Let Me Down at Downstage Center Theater and the Italian National Tour of Beauty and the Beast.

Utilizing an unconventional, community-based approach to create the work, the rehearsal process was divided into two four week phases. In the first, the writing team and performers met weekly, using roundtable discussions and theatrical exercises to generate content, tell stories, and speak to shared experiences as women living abroad. With the material generated in these meetings in mind, a fictional storyline was
developed and the performance is now being workshopped with the performers, as well as a choreographer, movent director, and composer.

Created, Written, Directed and Costume Design by Federica Borlenghi, starring Dorina Amina Abubakar, Niki Chernitska, Tania Kass, Maria Müller, Michi Zaya, and Juana Zavalía. Covi Loveridge Brannan serves as Associate Playwright and Director of Community & Sustainability. Movement Direction by Clara Wiest. Choreography by Julia D’Angelo. Lighting Design by Adrian Yuen. Poster Design by Marieli Pereira. The performances of Reminiscence will be accompanied by a walk-through exhibition featuring visual art by various international artists.