Romanian-American Studio Theater Presents Cătălina Florescu's Timely "Suicidal Dog & Laika"

RCI’s recently launched theatrical series, The Romanian-American Studio Theater, continues with the reading of the stimulating political tragicomedy, ”Suicidal Dog & Laika”, by protean author and academic Cătălina Florina Florescu, under the direction of Olga Levina and featuring an all-American cast. The play imagines a surrealist, and utterly revealing, encounter between an immigrant hound and the famous astronaut dog Laika, dead in space a long time ago, whose often hilarious exchanges illuminate some of today’s most pressing issues as well as the current challenges to remain, well, human in a world gone astray.

SUICIDAL DOG & LAIKA (staged reading)

Written by Cătălina Florina Florescu

Directed by Olga Levina

With: Michael Bernardi, Russ DiBello, Oliver Fishman, Leo Grinberg, Tara Henderson, Natalia Volkodaeva, Sam Yazbeck

”The Iron Curtain would come down soon (and) I knew that political regimes and doctrines could harm people badly, like a contagious disease. I promised myself to refuse to be mistreated and make sure I speak up, especially since the abuse typically concerns the marginalized and weak people (…) I knew that the best way for me to keep my sanity while voicing out my opinions would come therapeutically via writing.” - Cătălina Florescu, playwright

“It is so rewarding to find a play that speaks to you on a personal level and yet carry the universal messages for any director.” - Olga Levina, director

“Cătălina’s play (…) contains an open view towards a certain type of politics that results in being toxic to a population, dehumanizing them. This is why, not surprisingly, by using allegory, the author suggests that sometimes animals may be and act better than humans, and that, despite their being kept in captivity and domesticated, the animals have retained their freedom of thinking and would like us, humans, to use it before it’s too late.” - Cristina Modreanu, theater curator and critic

Cătălina Florina Florescu is a Romanian-American playwright and academic. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from University of Bucharest and holds a Master’s Degree and a PhD in Comparative Theater and Medical Humanities from Purdue University. She teaches theater, literature, cinema, and writing at Pace University. She is the author of Transacting Sites of the Liminal Bodily Spaces, Disjointed Perspectives on Motherhood (2013), Inventing Me/ Exerciţii de retrăit(2011). Her edited book, Transnational Narratives of Englishes in Exile, was released in 2017. She delivered papers at Harvard, Sorbonne, and New York University. Her Scrabble Cancer Poster was presented at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and at Boston University. Cătălina Florescu is the New Play Development Curator and Dramaturgy at Jersey City Theater Center. She is currently working on a collection of short/flash stories titled Not Yet. More at https://www.catalinaflorescu.com/