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Atomic Tales

 
Lily Crooke Review by Lily Crooke 5 Published: 13 Aug 2025 ZOO Playground Show Dates: 1 Aug 2025-24 Aug 2025

On 26 April 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in the Ukrainian SSR, now Ukraine. Atomic Tales is not simply a reconstruction of the events surrounding the disaster, but a portrait of profound, irreparable loss. One of Italy’s most acclaimed actresses, Elena Arvigo delivers a tour de force performance as Lyudmila, the wife of a firefighter. Arvigo is more than up to the task of expressing the inexpressible, drawing from seemingly unfathomable emotional depths in this impressive, visceral performance.

An urgent, harrowing and stunningly performed piece for the present age

The monologue won Italy’s top award, Le Maschere del Teatro Italiano, for best solo performance, and is only more poignant for being translated from Italian to English. Spoken in a language that is not her own, Arvigo navigates the challenges of translation, using gaps in understanding to highlight the inadequacy of language to express suffering and loss.

Atomic Tales was drawn from Chernobyl Prayer, a book of monologues from survivors of the disaster collected by Nobel peace prize winner Svetlana Alexievich. Arvigo painstakingly recreates Lyudmila’s disorientation, shock and exhaustion as she recalls the last few weeks of her husband’s life. There is no break in the emotional extremity of the piece and at points it becomes almost unbearable to watch. Yet by delving into Lyudmila’s harrowing experience, Arvigo captures the insidious and devastating nature of a tragedy that is almost impossible for the individual mind to imagine.

The piece forms part of Arvigo’s ongoing project, Le Imperdonabili (The Unforgivables), a series which attempts to shed light on women’s experiences of conflict and disaster. Arvigo switches masterfully from the intensity of Lyudmila’s grief and unwavering love for her husband to her cold, impersonal treatment at the hands of doctors and administrators. The set is simple – a wooden table strewn with flowers and a folding bed – capturing the disruption to ordinary domestic life.

Projected shadows fill the stage, reminding us that in this one story are a million others. After Lyudmila is rehoused in Kiev, Arvigo warns against going blindly into the next tragedy, recalling not only those who experienced similar losses in Chernobyl but also every person affected by present political tragedies. Exploring the profound, reverberating impact of war through one woman’s experience, Atomic Tales is an urgent, harrowing and stunningly performed piece for the present age.

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The Blurb:

Atomic Tales pays homage to an unforgettable moment in history: 26 April 1986, when the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in Ukraine. This is not a reconstruction of events, but of emotions – through the eyes and voice of Lyudmila, the wife of a firefighter. The piece explores the deeply human side of the tragedy. Her words are drawn from Voices from Chernobyl by Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich. Performed by Elena Arvigo, one of Italy's most intense stage actresses, the monologue won Italy's top award for solo performance. A hymn to life in the darkest moments.