What do you do with an unread manuscript that tells the story of a teenage Romanian Jewish girl’s journey across five countries and seven languages? Her tale unfolds through a series of vignettes: solitary confinement in a Soviet prison, dodging Nazi gunfire, enduring a miscarriage at 17 after jumping off a train. Spanning 2,000 raw pages of typewritten ink, her accent lingers in the odd spellings and old-world phrases. It offers a glimpse into a vanished world, while the human emotions within—cruelty, ingenuity, longing, kindness, and solidarity—remain deeply relatable.

After engaging with the manuscript as a catalyst for exploring intergenerational trauma, Myk Freedman shared it with a close friend and musical collaborator. Together, they transformed its raw power into a live performance that blends storytelling and readings from the book with original music, alongside Klezmer tunes and Yiddish folk melodies from the Eastern European cities where the author, Myk's grandmother, sought refuge. More than just a concert, this performance is an act of discovery and healing. The music is intense and alive, capturing the same tension between beauty and chaos that defines the original story.

Card to Culture tickets available.