A new space for the Theatre of Resilience “Unbroken” with an inclusive open-air stage has opened in Zamarsynivskyi Park in Lviv. The first event was the premiere of the play “To the Light and Back”, written by Russian-Ukrainian war veteran Andrii Hryhoriev.
The wooden stage has been built in a semicircle. Next to it, a young tree has been planted, its branches entwined with a golden thread forming a kind of web. It was here that the actors of the “Unbroken” theatre presented a performance that transports the audience into a space of purgatory, heaven and hell, using these images to reveal the everyday reality of military life.
Director of the “Unbroken” theatre, Svitlana Fedeshova, said that there was little time to prepare the performance, but the team primarily wanted to enjoy working together. She noted that both experienced members of the theatre and new actors took part in the production, and that the community around the project quickly came together.
Playwright Andrii Hryhoriev explained that in his work he draws parallels between war and the afterlife, where, in his words, everything is divided into Light and Darkness, and the truth becomes evident.
The initiative to create the Theatre of Resilience space came from the public organisation “Budmo”. Its team approached the UNBROKEN rehabilitation centre with a proposal to build an inclusive stage in the park for open events.
Co-founder of the “Budmo” NGO and member of the architectural collective Anastasiia Marchenko stressed that the choice of the “Unbroken” theatre was linked to practices of veterans’ mental recovery and the need to create accessible spaces for open dialogue between society and those who have lived through the war. She emphasised that this is the first such social project in Lviv, and that during the two weeks of work the team received a great deal of support and appreciative feedback.
The “Budmo” team includes volunteers from Slovenia, France and Australia who implement social architecture projects in Ukraine. The stage in Zamarsynivskyi Park was built with grant funding from the European Cultural Foundation, using timber and other environmentally friendly materials.
At the end of the performance, Andrii Hryhoriev appealed to the audience to support a fundraising campaign for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular for the “Volyn Beavers” unit of the 100th Separate Mechanised Brigade, which needs batteries for ground robotic systems.