The lecture will take place at the premises of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies in Rethymnon (Nikiforou Foka 130 & Melissinou), on Monday, October 21st, at 19.30.

Speakers: Oleksandr Pronkevich, professor at Ukrainian Catholic University and a researcher of Spanish literature and culture and theater critic John Freedman, curator of the Ukrainian component of Ukrainian Drama Translations web-site.

When war comes, many might imagine that theatre and other forms of performance stop. But, among the many forms of resistance to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there has been a vast increase in the number of new plays representing the suffering and resilience of the Ukrainian people, many of which have already been translated into English. Some of the authors are Andrii Bondarenko, Irina Garets, Nina Zakhozhenko, Maksym Kurochkin, Neda Nezhdana, Olena Astaseva, Hanna Halas, Natalka Blok, Luda Tymoshenko, PetroAriev, Polina Polozhentseva, Hanna Nevidoma, Viktor Solodchuk, Olha Matsiupa, Yuliia Hudoshnyk, Iryna Feofanova, Ihor Bilyt, Lena Liagushonkovam and many others. As a matter of fact, we can speak about a boom of Ukrainian testimonial drama.

The lecture will focus on practices of creating, translating and performing drama about the war in Ukrainε and all over the world as a means of the “double epistemic injustice” (simultaneous silencing of Ukrainian culture by Russia and the West) by using global theatrical industry and social media networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, etc. The Ukrainian drama texts allow us to understand the emotional and rational changes Ukrainians go through in the most tragic moments of the country’s history.

Information about speakers

Oleksandr Pronkevich is a professor at Ukrainian Catholic University and a researcher of Spanish literature and culture. One of his most recent projects is a course on “Ukrainian Drama and Poetry about the War in English Translations” taught to students of the Ukrainian Catholic University and University of Notre Dame together with Tetiana Savchynska, Peter Holland, Romana Huk, and Bohdaba Yakobchuk.

Theater critic John Freedman, curator of the Ukrainian component of Ukrainian Drama Translations web-site, moved quickly at the onset of the Russian invasion to bring new Ukrainian dramatic works to global audiences. Working with Philip Arnoult at Baltimore’s Center for International Theater Development, Maksym Kurochkin at Kyiv’s Theater of Playwrights, Noah Birksted-Breen at London’s Sputnik Theatre, and others, the project has arranged for numerous pledged readings and fundraisers in 15 countries and in 12 languages. Events already have taken place in Hong Kong, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Germany, and Austria. Listen to the podcasts A Dictionary of Ukrainian Emotions. Episode 1: How to talk to the dead on Ukrainska Pravda https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/podcasts/66f2bbd028ce4/2024/09/24/7476560/index.amp.