{"id":2199,"date":"2017-02-09T16:54:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-09T16:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/developmenttwo.marymount.edu\/blog\/staged-reading-of-play-on-salvadoran-civil-war-feb-17\/"},"modified":"2017-02-09T16:54:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T16:54:00","slug":"staged-reading-of-play-on-salvadoran-civil-war-feb-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/staged-reading-of-play-on-salvadoran-civil-war-feb-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Staged Reading of Play on Salvadoran Civil War Feb. 17"},"content":{"rendered":"
Marymount University taught Leora Lihach that true empathy surpasses cultural boundaries and national borders. It\u0092s a lesson she took to heart.<\/p>\n
As a result, the 2016 graduate, along with the Teatro de la Luna Theatre Company, will bring a staged reading of Lihach\u0092s play \u0093Madres de la Revolucion\u0094 (Mothers of the Revolution) from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17 in Marymount\u0092s Reinsch Library Auditorium, 2807 North Glebe Road. The reading will be in English and is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n
The play is based on the real-life testimonio<\/em> of Commander Nidia D\u00edaz, a mother and revolutionary who endured prison and human rights violations during the Salvadoran Civil War. It grew out of Lihach\u0092s honors thesis and was written while she was studying abroad at Oxford University in England through the honors program and Marymount\u0092s Center for Global Education.<\/p>\n \u0093It\u0092s a remarkable accomplishment for someone her age to have done all the research, written a play and have it produced by a professional theater,\u0094 said Dr. Sarah Fischer<\/a>, a lecturer in social and criminal justice who was one of Lihach\u0092s mentors at Marymount.<\/p>\n In high school, Lihach did a little acting but never imagined she would ever write a play. High school is also where her interest in women in Latin America began after she watched a documentary about women, power and politics that included the story of Chile\u0092s first female president. At Marymount, that interest grew.<\/p>\n \u0093I fell head over heels in love with Latin America,\u0094 she said. \u0093So many of its women are incredible and strong. They went through really ugly times, and the women and mothers, who represented national morality, were a force to be reckoned with.\u0094<\/p>\n She said it\u0092s important to have stories that teach us that U.S. policies are often the root cause of undocumented immigration, especially in today\u0092s political climate.<\/p>\n \u0093My mission with this play has been to create a testament to the belief that shared humanity can reconcile cultural differences,\u0094 she said.<\/p>\n Lihach, who is teaching herself Spanish, originally sprinkled Spanish words in the play, then added phrases in subsequent drafts with the help of friends fluent in the language. In preparation for writing the play, she immersed herself in first-hand accounts of the Salvadoran Civil War. She knew that as an outsider, she had a responsibility to understand the world of the revolutionaries, their history and narratives.<\/p>\n \u0093I have Marymount to thank for helping me to see that,\u0094 she said.<\/p>\n