Between stage and front

Serhij Trusch rehearsing the piece “The Way of St. James”

A backyard in Podil, a steep staircase down to the basement: the Theater of Playwrights in Kiev is so hidden that you would hardly find it without precise directions. And yet there is a lot of activity inside.

The theater is the result of a coalition of 20 Ukrainian playwrights who decided in February 2020 to establish their own stage where the text takes center stage. All power to the piece and those who write it! The author decides who directs. That was the initial idea.

"It's still 2022 in my head. A year that can't end now in its fifth year." Serhij Trusch, actor, director and soldier

The fight against the Russian invasion since February 2022 has had a decisive influence on the collective project. The opening of the venue, planned for the beginning of March 2022, had to be postponed for months because those involved had to flee or reported for military service. In June 2022 the time had come: under the artistic direction of the playwright Maksym Kurotschkin, theater operations began in the middle of the war. It is financed through ticket sales, grants and sponsorship. A new performance takes place almost every week. Since 2024, the stage has been cooperating with the Veterans Theater, which is subordinate to the media unit of the Defense Forces. War veterans write their own texts and stand on stage; the artistic director of the project is Akhtem Seitablayev. It is a theater that wants to intervene, but also to provide therapy.

To read this content, an online subscription is required::