"The empty space is filled with emotions that are transferred to the audience."

Eight Short Compositions from the Lives of Ukrainians for a Western Audience is a response to Russian arrogance directed against the peaceful Ukrainian nation. Clatter of guns and the worried voices of politicians are heard from all the media. Five performers, each from a different European country – Ireland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ukraine, meet in a metaphorical space defined by text projection, musical composition, singing and personal statement. Together they search for hope rooted in the tradition and routine of everyday life.

Reflections of the performers

The experience of working with this international team at the Archa Theatre is very special to me. To be able to create a performance together about the war in Ukraine is urgent and important, while at the same time the way we work with the beautiful text is very freeing and hopeful. For me, coming from the Netherlands, I often take my freedom for granted. Working on this project has made me very aware that culture, home and safety aren't self-evident.
Rosa Berman, Arnhem, Nederlands

I do not know how to write about war - words have a short expiration date - I feel very much familiar with the lines of Anastasiia Kosodii here. None of us knew how to write about it. How would you translate all the terror and all your spectrum of feelings towards it into a few words, into a certain form?
Director of the show Jana Svobodova, offered us a safe space to experiment and search for the accurate words, movement, sound. I guess, now it is one of the righteousness methods to work with the difficult topic of war that is still ongoing.
Maria Kosiychuk, Lviv, Ukraine

The performance was created in cooperation with the Jam Factory center in Lviv as part of the Artists in War international project.

The text by Anastasia Kosodii is projected in Czech and English.