WHEN:

Wednesday, 14 December 2016, 18:30

WHERE:

Europe House, 32 Smith Sq, London SW1P 3EU

Admission:

Free, but registration is required. Please click here to register.

Language:

The talk will be in Ukrainian and English. Interpreting will be provided. The film will have English subtitles.

The event will be moderated by Marina Pesenti, Director of the Ukrainian Institute, will be followed by a Q&A session and a wine reception.

Organiser:

Ukrainian Institute in London

There are 1,7 million people displaced inside Ukraine as a result on the ongoing war in the east. Nearly all left behind relatives, jobs, property and memories. Their experiences received an expression through “The Theatre of Displaced People”, brought to life by a Ukrainian playwright Natalia Vorozhbyt and a German theatre director Georg Genoux, who have been spending lots of time on the war zone. “My Mykolayivka” is a moving account of a school shelling in a small village told my senior schoolchildren.

At the event, Natalia Vorozhbyt will talk about what it is like to make theatre on the frontline with the people experiencing war first hand and about the scope for healing and empowerment in theatrical experience. She will be joined by a Samir Puri from King’s College who recently conducted field research in Ukraine.

Speakers biographies:

Natalya Vorozhbyt is оne of Ukraine’s leading playwrights. Her work has been translated and staged internationally including at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre in London. Her 2015 documentary play ‘Voices from the Uprising’ is one of the most important works of reporting from witness at the heart of the Maidan revolution.

Samir Puri

Samir Puri is a Lecturer in the Department of War Studies. He holds a BA in History and Politics from Warwick University, an MA (distinction) in War Studies from King’s College London, and a PhD from Cambridge University. His doctoral dissertation examined different strategies for dealing with armed groups in Pakistan and Turkey.

He spent six years working for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2009-15). In 2014-15 he was seconded to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in eastern Ukraine. His duties involved patrolling in the field, and reporting on ceasefire violations and weapons withdrawals in line with the Minsk process.

 

“My Mykovayivka” project:

Project “My Mykolaivka” was created by Ukrainian playwright Natalya Vorozhbit and German director Georg Genoux. Mykolaivka is a small town in Donbass, in July 2014 it has suffered from severe shelling. Local school was damaged. Volunteers came to town to renew the building. Georg has decided to create a documentary performance with pupils of senior classes. It premiered in Mykolaivka in April 2015. In September “My Mykolaivka” was shown at GOGOLfest in Kyiv. On March, 16 it was performed in Konstanz (Germany). Children from Mykolaivka will stay there for a week to create a new performance with local German kids.s one of the most important works of reporting from witness at the heart of the Maidan revolution.

“The Theatre of Displaced People”

The Theatre of Displaced People is unique among Ukrainian  theatre  projects. It is not only a documentary theatre; it is a space for witnessing. Refugees from Donbass, volunteers, and military personnel returning from active warfare are its characters. The theatre does not use prepped texts and nor professional actors. It focuses on real people and true stories. The project was set up in August 2015 and in a matter of months was hailed  as a “Theatre Project of the Year”  by Ukrainian theatre  critics. The theatre tours extensively throughout Ukraine at featured at GOGOLfest in Kyiv and the DONKULT forum in Lviv. It also travelled to Germany, Czech Republic and Austria. Its current project, “Children and the War,” includes three performances in the towns near the frontline: Popasna, Mykovayivka and Slavyansk. The project is supported by Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives and Germany’s Goethe Institut.

Source of information

Share via: