Pittsburgh, PA – City of Asylum Pittsburgh announces the world premier of SORRY, I DON’T UNDERSTANDING, taking place Monday, March 25 at 7 PM EST at Alphabet City, City of Asylum’s home on the Northside. The original play is written, produced, and stars exiled writers in residence, Olena Boryshpolets & Anouar Rahmani.
Sorry, I Don’t Understanding, which will be performed in Navajo, Ukrainian, Algerian, Arabic, French, and English, tells the story of a Ukrainian woman and an Algerian man who arrive in Pittsburgh and accidentally become neighbors. She has fled her family and country because of Russia’s war against the free people of Ukraine, he has fled Algeria because of the government’s persecution for supporting LGBT rights. They pass each other on their street and quickly hide in their apartments, where they live their pain in solitude. One day they realize that in order to move on, it is vital for them to tell each other their stories. The play is inspired by the creators’ own experiences. Hailing from Ukraine and Algeria respectively, Olena Boryshpolets and Anouar Rahmani first met in Pittsburgh when they became writers-in-residence at City of Asylum.
“One day we got tired of walking past each other in silence and started talking,” says Olena. “It was difficult, because at that time I hardly spoke English and was in a critical state of adaptation, when communication with people is difficult. But it is communication with the world and others that a person needs at such moments. I said ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand’ many, many times in America, and what I felt inside grew into the idea of the play.”
“On a cloudy day, amidst a dispute over trash cans, I found myself strolling with Olena,” Anouar explains. “As we walked, she confided in me her aspirations of pursuing a career as an actress in the theater. However, one obstacle stood in her way – the English language. In that moment, an idea sparked within me, and I suggested the core concept for a play that could showcase her talents and mine. Together, we embarked on a collaborative journey, intertwining our unique perspectives and skills. With my touch and her touch, we meticulously crafted the scenes of this play, ensuring that each moment carried equal credit for both of us. A little Algerian and a little Ukrainian in a balanced way. Our shared creation aims to convey the experiences of immigrants in the USA, using a surreal and allegorical approach. It is our collective endeavor to deliver a profound message through the art of theater.”
“The heart of our mission is to provide a safe place and support for writers in need of sanctuary,” says Caro Llewellyn, Executive Director of City of Asylum. “The writers who participate in the City of Asylum Exiled Writer and Artist Residency Program are able to share their stories without fearing for their safety or the safety of their families. Sorry, I Don’t Understanding is a wonderful example of the kind of cross-cultural collaboration that can happen when true freedom of expression is protected and shared and people from different countries and cultures can live side-by-side in harmony, trust, and respect.”
For more information and to reserve free tickets, visit: cityofasylum.org/programs
About Anouar Rahmani: Anouar Rahmani is a writer and human rights defender from Algeria. He is the author of four novels in Arabic, including Hallucinations of Jibril and What God is Hiding from Us. Through his creative writing, journalism, and activism,
Anouar advocates for individual freedoms, environmental rights, and the rights of minorities, women, and the LGBT+ community. In 2015, he was the first person to publicly demand same-sex marriage be legalized in Algeria. Anouar holds a License in Public Law and a Master’s in State and Institutional Law from the University of Morsli Abdallah. Anouar is an Artist Protection Fund Fellow in residence at Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Modern Languages and writer-in-residence at City of Asylum since 2022.
About Olena Boryshpolets: Olena Boryshpolets hails from Odesa, Ukraine. She is a poet, writer, journalist, actress, culture manager, and laureate of the Konstantin Paustovsky Municipal Literary Prize for the collection of poems “Blue Star.” Olena is also a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and a co-founder of the public organization Creation Without Borders. After the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine in February 2022, Olena went to Poland and banded together with other Ukrainian women to tell the European audience about the war and its consequences through the Polish-Ukrainian play “Life in the Event of War.” She has been a Research Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh and writer in residence as part of City of Asylum’s Fellowship for Ukrainian Writers since March 2023.
About the City of Asylum Exiled Writer and Artist Residency Program: The program is a long-term residency for literary writers and other artists who are in exile from their home countries and under threat of persecution because of their work. The goal of this sanctuary program is to enable each writer- and artist-in-residence to continue to create while transitioning to a stable, independent life in exile. For two years or more, we provide our writers and artists with a home on Sampsonia Way, a stipend, legal counsel, medical benefits, and access to professional development opportunities. Our program is effective: Each writer or artist hosted by City of Asylum has created a full-length work while in residence, and has been able to continue to create. Virtually all of our past resident writers have gone on to find full-time employment in the U.S.
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