The Imaginary Routes Through Lviv

Place — Gallery of Scenography

Performance for 10 spectators

Duration — 1 hour

Original Author and Playwright — Viktoriya Myronyuk

Texts — Viktoriya Myronyuk and Performers

Performers — Anna Yepatko and Sofiya Leshyshak; Anastasiya Lisovska and Isabel Merkulova;

Scenography — Viktoriya Myronyuk

Sound Studies — Ostap Manulyak

Voice Teacher — Mukola Telyuk

Sound engineer — Volodymyr Pomirko

Media Animation — Oleksiy Khoroshko

Costume Style Idea — Viktoriya Myronyuk and Iryna Polyanska

Costume Designer — Iryna Polyanska

Imagine the past, the present and the future city of Lviv shown on a surface covered with sand: the way its history along with history of its citizens flows among the shores of river Poltva. What can the story of the invisible river tell about us; what myths/stories do we associate with it and what is hidden from view? And, finally, where will its underground water flows take us to?

The imaginary routes through Lviv represents itself an intimate performance which explores the intersections of Lviv’s history and urban associations through the play in sand. The river sand of Poltva and the images painted on it will become the starting points of the fantasy journey of the participants who will dive into the imaginary world of Lviv through the water or rather its absence.

Appealing to the medieval genres of itinerarium (detailed pilgrimage texts and illustrations) together with the mystery plays, «The imaginary routes through Lviv» performance at the same time modifies these genres focusing on contemporary issues of urban ecology, local community history and the dis / utopian future. In addition, on contrary to the ancient times, the female leaders in this sand ritual will be represented by two sorceresses, who will reveal not only the secrets of the city and its groundwater, but also they will open minds and memories of those who’ll be present at the action and will follow the direction of Poltva river and its tributaries.

The texts of the performance include: a poem by Deborah Vogel translated by Yurko Prokhasko, the excerpts from dialogues from the play «Svatannia na Honcharivtsi» (Matchmaking at Honcharivka) by Hryhoriy Kvitka-Osnovyanenko, an excerpt from Richard Wagner’s opera «Lohengrin».

The performance is made with the support of Center for Urban History of East Central Europe.

Premiere —  December, 20, 2019

 

Haldamash

By Hainer Muller and Sophocles

By Olha Matsuipa

Place — Small stage

Age limit — 18+

Do you believe in karma? Do you think that Carpathian molfars truly exist? Or maybe you’re strongly convinced that global warming should occur? And what about the end of the world? Have you ever imagined that the trees can talk to each other? Do you believe in super power of art?

Believe it or not, but one day the Lumberjacks will come down from the walls of the Folk household building in Kolomyia to say: An eye for an eye — and there will be not a single reason to deny what they said, because it’s the most honest formula in the world.

At that time, the disheveled hutsul woman Namishka will bake blueberry buns and then she’ll start to play a jaw harp — a gift which has been never given to her by beloved one.

And then the tree, which now is your fashionable IKEA wooden shelf, will whisper: Damn it, what’s wrong with you people? This will mark the point of no return.

Photos — Maria Shavel’

Director — Svitlana Iliuk

Scenography — Viktoria Romanchuk

Costume Designer — Maria Antoniak

Light Designer — Artur Temchenko

Media Artist — Vladyslav Bilonenko 

Sound engineers — Volodymyr Pomirko, Ostar Shuper

Premiere — October 31, 2020

Baba Prisya

Based on the play by Pavlo Arie

Place — big stage

Duration — 2 hours without intermission

Age limit — 18+

Director — Oleksiy Kravchuk, the Honored Art Worker of Ukraine

Scenography, video projection — Oleksiy Khoroshko

Lighting designers — Viktoriya Romanchuk, Artur Temchenko

Sound engineers — Ostap Shuper, Volodymyr Pomirko

Production manager — Maria Antonyak 

Props — Marta Bozhyk

Costumiers — Halyna Hladun, Diana Yanchuk

Stage Technicians — Vladyslav Bilonenko, Oleh Zherebetskyi, Rostyslav Kolachnyk, Serhiy Lytvynenko

Assistant Director — Svitlana Iliuk

PR — Viktoriya Solovyuk

Chief Administrator — Iryna Chanyzh

Cast:

Baba Prisya — Oleh Stefan, the Laureate of Taras Shevchenko National Prize, the Honored Artist of Ukraine

Vovchyk, Father — Vasyl Sydorko; 

Slava — Zoryana Dybovska; Anna Yepatko

District police officer — Serhiy Lytvynenko

Mermaids-radio-Liberty — Sofiya Leshyshak, Oksana Tsymbalist

Everyone knows for sure that ordinary elderly woman whom we used to gently call «granny». Granny bakes the most delicious cookies, knits the warmest socks, sends the homemade wine or pickles, every time she meets you she persistently tries to give you a couple of Hryvnias even though your salary is five times higher than her pension. Her words are warm, her hands are gentle.

Photos: Volodymyr Holovatyi

And at the same time there is an elderly woman whom we strictly call «baba» (formal English only: grandmother). Baba sets traps for wildfowl, she makes medicine of mushrooms and herbs (let’s be honest- she often uses this «treatment» for her own entertainment), she perfectly knows all the secret paths through the wetlands. She may easily give a kick to her grandson for breaking an order or for eating her condensed milk; she may stub 12 Germans during the war on her own and she may definitely dare to compete the death. She knows exactly what belongs to her and won’t ever give up it no matter who stands in her way: a local police officer or Mykhail Gorbachov.

So don’t upset or disappoint the grannies, because no one will escape from the baba’s anger.

Premiere — January 20, 2015

From Germany With Love

Place — big stage
Duration — 1 hour 45 minutes without intermission

Have you ever heard of the town called Senftenberg? Don’t worry if you haven’t, after practicing several times, you will be able to pronounce its name correctly. Moreover, thanks to Lesya Ukrainka Theater you have a chance to discover for yourself this small town situated between Dresden and Berlin. The citizens of Senftenberg have sent you a parcel filled with prints of their lives in Brandenburg, one of the federal states in Germany where a large coal basin is situated.

When you unpack this parcel, you’ll meet a young woman who had moved to Australia to become a baker, but then she returned to Senftenberg to open the best bakery in the town. You will also see an old man who once was a chief of the mine and now he is a leader of the miners’ choir, all members of which are over 80 years old. Maybe you will be lucky enough to listen to one of their favorite songs. You will meet two very bright 10 years old boys, a social worker, a young mother, a local teacher and many others. You will taste the food the people of Senftenberg like to eat, and finally, we hope, you will get to know a part of their life — the traces of sorrows and joys of people from a small town 1,500 kilometers away from us. And perhaps the distance in terms of geography won’t be that important.

Original Authors — Andre Erlen, Stefan H. Kraft

Translators from Germany — Natalka Sniadanko, Nina Zakhozhenko

Translator from English — Julia Kalysh

Assistant of Authors — Svitlana Iliuk 

Production manager — Maria Antonyak

Project managers — Oksana Danchuk, Viktoriya Shvydko

Stage lighting — Viktoriya Romanchuk, Artur Temchenko

Sound setting — Volodymyr Pomirko, Ostap Shuper 

Stage Technicians — Vladyslav Bilonenko, Oleh Zherebetskyi, Serhiy Lytvynenko 

Props — Marta Bozhyk

Decorators — Nataliya Lisnycha, Iryna Polyanska

Designer — Olena Konoval

Premiere — February 1, 2020

Photos: Tetiana Dzhapharova

«From Germany With Love» — is the first part of the International theatrical project «Borderlands-Identity-Diversity-Community: now, before and after». The project is being implemented in cooperation with Lesia Ukrainka Theatre (Lviv, Ukraine), Theatre Neue Buhne (Senftenberg, Germany) and theatrical group Futur 3 (Cologne, Germany). The purposes of cooperation include intercultural communication, exchange of experiences and establishing new forms of communication through theatrical co-productions. Two more co-productions will be created during 2020-2021. The project is being implemented with the support of the Dopelpas Foundation /Fond DoppelPass (GE).

The war that changed Rondo

Based on the eponymous book written by Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv

Director — Andre Erlen

Scenography and costumes — Mikhaela Mukhina

Music — Jorg Ritzenhof

Text adaptation — Lorenz Gippe

Playwright – Maren Zimonait

Translator — Natalka Snyadanko

Production Manager — Maria Antonyak

Assistant Director — Svitlana Iliuk

Project Manager — Viktoriya Shvydko

Lighting Designers — Yevhen Petrov, Artur Temchenko

Sound Director — Volodymyr Pomirko

Stage Technicians — Vladyslav Bilonenko, Oleh Zherebetskyi, Rostyslav Kolachnyk, Serhiy Lytvynenko

Props — Marta Bozhyk

Decorators — Marta Bozhyk, Solomiya Ortynska

Construction Manager, artist — Serhiy Stolyaruk

Costumiers — Halyna Hladun, Diana Yanchuk

Chief Administrator — Iryna Chanyzh

PR — Viktoriya Solovyuk, Olha Smulska 

Designer — Olena Konoval

Cast:

Danko — Vasyl Sydorko

Fabian — Anastasiya Lisovska

Star — Isabel Merkulova

Flora — Sofiya Leshyshak

War — Anna Yepatko

R-r-r-rondo. It’s the best place on Earth where flowers have the sweetest scent and the air smells fresh and clean. Rondo is perfect for animal life. And for plants and birds too. Well, and even for people!

Rondo is a home to strange creatures who truly love every corner of it. But even the best place on Earth cannot be saved from bad things. Even Rondo.

Photos: Tetiana Dzhapharova

What should you do when war comes to your cozy city all suddenly? To run away or to fight? To hide or to struggle? Or maybe you just have to ask war to go away, because it has no place here?

How to talk to a child about war? How to explain that War has no home. And it also has no heart.

It’s not that easy. But the strange creatures from Rondo and the story of how War has changed them are very inspiring. Because it is important to stand by each other, to take care of each other and to save the light inside us. This could be the beginning of a hard conversation with a child about all the bad things in the world.

«We’ll stick together».

Premiere — October 20, 2021

The performance is made within the International theatrical project «Borderlands-Identity-Diversity-Community: now, before and after» in cooperation with theatre Neue Buhne (Senftenberg, Germany) and theatrical group Futur 3 (Cologne, Germany) with the support of the Dopelpas Foundation /Fond DoppelPass (GE). The concept of the performance is created by Futur 3 (Cologne). Accompanying translation within the project — Oleksiy Pavlovich.

WARNING! The bright light flashes and sound effects are being used during the performance. This can negatively affect people with medical conditions. Take care of yourself and people around you.

«Dreams of a Summer Night»

Based on William Shakespeare’s play

Place — theater’s courtyard

Age limit — 18+

Duration — 1 hour 45 minutes without intermission

Instead of putting on the flower for her groom, she throws it right in his face and runs away. So what does he do? He roams through the forests in search of the fern flower which may help him to make up with the rebellious girl. Whom does he meet on his way? All suddenly he meets the group of homeless actors who persuade him to watch their performance. And of course the performance is about love. What else one should watch during the summer solstice!

Apparently, the performance was not that interesting, because he fell asleep right in the middle of the action. Meanwhile, she takes away a flower.

From now on he is no longer the groom, he is Kupalo. She is Marena. She doesn’t run away anymore. This time she is dying. No one will save anyone. Everyone knows that «tomorrow» will come anyway. You just have to wake up.

What do have sleep-walkers and lovers in common? They both are the most vulnerable.

Director — Dmytro Zakhozhenko

Set Designer — Oleksiy Khoroshko

Playwright — Oksana Danchuk

Lighting designers — Viktoriya Romanchuk, Artur Temchenko

Composers — Volodymyr Pomirko, Oksana Tsymbalist

Sound engineers — Ostap Shuper, Volodymyr Pomirko

Costume Designer, Production manager — Maria Antonyak

Decorators — Nataliya Lisnycha, Iryna Polyanska, Viktoriya Romanchuk

Stage Technicians — Vladyslav Bilonenko, Oleh Zherebetskyi, Serhiy Lytvynenko

Dressmaker — Tetyana Kalinichenko 

Costumiers — Halyna Hladun, Diana Yanchuk

Props — Marta Bozhyk

Assistant Director — Svitlana Iliuk

Designer — Olena Konoval

Chief Administrator — Iryna Chanyzh

PR — Viktoriya Solovyuk, Olha Smulska

Cast 

Oberon, Centaur, Sleep-walker, Kupalo — Mykola Bereza

Titania, Actress, Lysander, Marena — Sofiya Leshyshak 

Puck, Psyche — Zoryana Dybovska

Actress, Helena, Sleep-walker — Isabel Merkulova

Producer, Talk Show Host, The First Woman — Anna Yepatko

Stanislav, Philostrate, Talk Show Host — Serhiy Lytvynenko

Actor, Shakespeare, Senior Capulet, Night-walker, The First Man — Vasyl Sydorko

Actress, Hippolyte, Lady Capulet — Aanastasiya Lisovska

Actor, Aegeus, MC Ovidij — Mykhaylo Ponzel

Actress, Hermia — Kateryna Kudlach

Actor, Demetrius — Anriy Kravchuk

Actress, Theseus, Pythia — Oksana Tsymbalist

Teacher, Mother, Demeter — Tetyana Frolova

Musicians and Singers: Zoryana Dybovska — lyre, Anriy Kravchuk, Sofiya Leshyshak — djembe, Kateryna Kudlach — accordion, Serhiy Lytvynenko — rainstick, Aanastasiya Lisovska — jaw harp, Isabel Merkulova — sopilka, Artur Temchenko — drum, Oksana Tsymbalist — keyboard controller.

Premiere —  August, 15, 2020 

The extracts from the William Shakespeare’s play «A Midsummer Night’s Dream» (translated by Yuriy Lisnyak), the poem «Metamorphoses» by Ovid (translated by Andriy Sodomora), Sonnet 38 by William Shakespeare (translated by Nataliya Butuk) are used in the performance.

Baba Prisya

A drama based on the play by Pavlo Arie

place – big stage

duration – 2 hours without intermission

age limit – 18+

Director –Oleksiy Kravchuk, the Honored Art Worker of Ukraine

Scenography, video projection – Oleksiy Khoroshko

Cast:

Baba Prisya – Oleh Stefan, the Laureate of Taras Shevchenko National Prize, the Honored Artist of Ukraine

Vovchyk, Father – Vasyl Sydorko; 

Slava – Zoryana Dybovska; Anna Yepatko

District police officer – Serhiy Lytvynenko

Mermaids-radio-Liberty – Sofiya Leshyshak, Oksana Tsymbalist

Everyone knows for sure that ordinary elderly woman whom we used to gently call “granny’. Granny bakes the most delicious cookies, knits the warmest socks, sends the homemade wine or pickles, every time she meets you she persistently tries to give you a couple of Hryvnias even though your salary is five times higher than her pension. Her words are warm, her hands are gentle.

And at the same time there is an elderly woman whom we strictly call “baba” (formal English only: grandmother). Baba sets traps for wildfowl, she makes medicine of mushrooms and herbs (let’s be honest- she often uses this “treatment” for her own entertainment), she perfectly knows all the secret paths through the wetlands. She may easily give a kick to her grandson for breaking an order or for eating her condensed milk; she may stub 12 Germans during the war on her own and she may definitely dare to compete the death. She knows exactly what belongs to her and won’t ever give up it no matter who stands in her way: a local police officer or Mykhaylo Gorbachov.

So don’t upset or disappoint the grannies, because no one will escape from the baba’s (English: grandmother’s) anger.

Premiere – January 20, 2015