The ukrainian words project
Directed by Lisa Channer and Vladimir Rovinksy, performed across Minnesota in 2024
new play readings and Story Circles with members of the Ukrainian diaspora in Minnesota.
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Olena Astasyeva - A Dictionary of Emotions in War Time
Tetyana Kitsenko - Call Them by Their Names
Yurii Hudymenko - Harry Potter
Oksana Savchenko - I Want to Go Home; Just Tell No One
Andriy Bondarenko - Peace and Tranquility
Iryna Harets - Planting an Apple Tree
Maksym Kurochkin - Three Attempts to Improve Daily Life
Natalka Vorozhbyt - Three Rendezvous
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Barbra Berlovitz - Performer
Pearce Bunting - Performer
Paul de Cordova - Performer
Lev Frayman - Musician
Olga Frayman - Musician
Adelin Phelps - Performer
Yev Rosso - Musician
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Olivia Brantsetter - Community Outreach Coordinator
Lisa Channer - Director
Vladimir Rovinsky - Director
Jaya Robillard - Stage Manager
Em Rosenberg - Marketing
Each event began with an hour-long staged reading, followed by optional Story Circles. Leaders of the Story Circles facilitated and welcomed a collective processing of the work and sharing of stories from our Ukrainian and post-Soviet community members. Story Circles gave Ukrainians, others from the post-Soviet diaspora, and general audiences in Minnesota a chance to process what's happening in Ukraine and the war’s effect on them. In collaboration with the storytellers, the narratives told will be turned into a new piece of verbatim theatre by Theatre Novi Most in 2025-2026.
This production was part of the The Worldwide Readings Project. Read more HERE.
Special thanks to our sponsors:
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
This activity is funded in part by the Faculty Research Grant at Minnesota State University, Mankato; the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Advanced Study as a Research and Creative Collaborative; and the Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry, and Scholarship program (GIA) administered by the Research and Innovation Office at the University of Minnesota.
Thank you to our producing partners, who helped make this event happen, including History Theatre; the Department of Performance Arts, Minnesota State University, Mankato; The Museum of Russian Art; Ukrainian American Community Center; University of Minnesota Theatre Arts and Dance; and Zeitgeist Arts.