„I would like to go back even if I don't have electricity, heat, safety...“

Almost half a million children, women and men have come to the Czech Republic from Ukraine since the February invasion. Are we living together our daily reality? What is theirs? Cooking class in the morning, taking care of a small daughter, lectures and research work, volleyball in the evening with the participants of the Czech language course... Can we catch an evening phone call with grandma or husband – and when do we get together?

Is it possible to find a future in another country, in a found safety but also in an uncertain provisorium? Is it possible to integrate and try to put down new roots – or continue to wait for a chance to go back?

A documentary play directed by Max Nowotorski, a student of drama direction at the Theatre Faculty of JAMU of Ukrainian origin. The play was co-authored and cast with his fellow countrymen who came to Brno and its surroundings in spring during the war. Experts on everydayness in a foreign country, far from their home that is now a battle-zone.

Season 48: Closeness

Max Nowotarski
Born in 1994 in Vinnytsia, Central Ukraine, he has been living in the Czech Republic since 2017. A student of Ukrainian directors Valeriy Bilchenko and Serhiy Kovalevich, he is currently continuing his studies in the atelier of directing and dramaturgy at the Faculty of Theatre at JAMU. Nowotarski is interested in dramatic theatre and his projects focus on exploring acting techniques, including cases of actual and socially engaged theatre and performative forms. In 2022, he was involved in several projects related to the reflection of the Russian war and genocide, and at HaDivadlo he previously curated and guided the special program Palianytsia / Паляниця (Day of Ukrainian Culture).