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Once Upon a Time in Ukraine

 
Roger Kay Review by Roger Kay 4 Published: 28 May 2025 Divadlo Inspirace Show Dates: 27 May 2025-30 May 2025

Actors as messengers.

Ukrainian refugees just want to be seen

We were supposed to be done with this, weren’t we? Children fleeing conflict and persecution in war-torn Europe should belong to the annals of history, it being some 85 years since the Kindertransport saved over 10,000 children. But here we are again - this time it is Ukrainian citizens fleeing their homes for a future that is far from certain, or indeed, not always welcoming.

Once Upon a Time in Ukraine takes personal testimonies of Ukrainian refugees who were relocated from the east of Ukraine to the west, Germany, and other parts of Europe. In some cases, those who fled may have been the fortunate ones, with 95% of residential properties destroyed in Mariupol alone. A humanitarian disaster and war crimes ensued. Using these testimonies, the troupe (Slava Krasowska, Maryna Boyko, Kira Meshcherska, and Vero Strelstova) in some cases creates imagined narratives, giving glimpses of possible outcomes, situations, and futures. The production is a patchwork of ideas and theatrical styles - drama, comedy, dance, and song - but collectively it is simply storytelling. The group breaks the fourth wall with significant audience interaction, including, at one point, what appears to be an improvised promenade.

We learn of refugees’ journeys and new lives. They experience an array of emotions: desperation, vulnerability, exhaustion, isolation, fear, thirst, banality, hunger, boredom. They may be viewed with suspicion even in their own country, such is the fear of Russian infiltration. They will experience culture shock, especially in small German towns where it will be harder to blend in. All in all, traumatic.

The play, imaginatively directed by Alex Borovenskiy and Natalia Ponomaryova, could use an edit, with some scenes landing better than others. Performing in a foreign language is  never straightforward, and on occasion some dialogue was a little hard to catch, but this is a very minor point and their efforts are highly commendable.

This production is overwhelmingly charming, joyous and uplifting; it would take a heart of stone not to be moved. The takeaway is that the indefatigability of the human spirit will prevail. ProEnglish Theatre of Ukraine, on behalf of their people, are not looking for our sympathy - they just want the world to see them. Actors as messengers has rarely been more true.

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Performances

The Blurb:

A story that desperately wants to be told, Ukrainian journey in retrospect, a refugee stand-up competition.

Four Ukrainian girls: Sasha, Masha, Dasha and Vitalina find themselves stuck in a place they can’t get out of. They cannot remember what brought them there. Trying to understand what the place is they go down the memory lane, visiting the refugee train, small town in, let’s say, Germany, Ukrainian city in the West of the country and more. Their memory always brings them back to where it’s all started. The city at the Sea. And when they finally remember...

Once Upon a Time in Ukraine brings you a series of recognizable situations, moments that’ll make you smile, chuckle, sigh or turn away. Moments you’ll see yourself in. Moments you can’t get out of. Or can you?

ProEnglish Theatre of Ukraine is back to Prague Fringe for the fourth time with a new performance of 2024!