The B.A. Society, in association with the Penn State School of Theatre, interrogates the use of language in their upcoming production of Harold Pinter’s 1988 play, "Mountain Language." Running March 31 through April 2 at 7 p.m. at the Penn State Downtown Theatre, "Mountain Language" takes place in an anonymous country where individual liberties have been forfeited to the state and prisoners are forbidden to speak their own language.
The B.A. Society, established in 2021, is the service organization of the B.A. Theatre program. The B.A. Theatre program develops the cross-trained artist/scholar, with a focus on playwriting, performance devising, directing and preparation for graduate study, and is headed by Jeanmarie Higgins, the co-director of "Mountain Language."
“In 1985, Pinter accompanied American playwright Arthur Miller on a goodwill mission to Istanbul, using his visibility to bring attention to state-sponsored torture of Kurds in Turkey,” said Higgins. “Many critics believe that this trip inspired 'Mountain Language,' which premiered in 1988 at the National Theatre. So, in many ways, the play is about political prisoners and their loved ones, specifically in Turkey. But we need only think about precarious peoples worldwide — people fleeing Ukraine, Syrian refugees, migrants crossing Central and North American borders — to understand that 'Mountain Language' (unfortunately) transcends its 1980s moment.”
"Mountain Language" was written by Harold Pinter and is directed by Jeanmarie Higgins and Michele Dunleavy. The production team includes Kevin Sims (music direction), Sky Sanders (costume design), Mason LoPiccolo (lighting design), Mac Miller (sound design), Evelyn Murphy-Welconish (production stage manager), and Arushi Grover, Jonathan Eburne and Mary Rose Valentine (dramaturgy).
Performances begin March 31 and run through April 2 at the Downtown Theatre Center in State College, Pennsylvania (146 S. Allen Street, next to Panera Bread). Admission is free.