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Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Of death – and laughter: how to write plays in Ukraine during wartime
Theatre | The Guardian: In a studio theatre tucked into a courtyard behind Kyiv’s main Khreshchatyk Street, six playwrights and six directors were hammering out a fraught question: how to write plays about war, during the war.
One unexpected outcome of their workshops was: through jokes.
I am a strong believer of theater uniting people through stories and these Ukrainian playwrights encapsulate that perfectly as they write about something very similar to what they are living through. Although not conventional, often telling tragic events that are relevant to the audience through a comedic tone makes stories that could be unbearable enjoyable and easier to digest. This is why I believe comedies were born. Obviously producing a full scale production is not realistic or attainable during war time. I love how this group of playwrights ran with that making their works street performance. This style of performance is perfect for art like this as using open spaces makes theater more accessible to both the audience and production. This style of performance also lends itself to be more portable than traditional productions. I am curious if any of these pieces will grow into something bigger in the future.
I think there is a lot to be said about the idea that the way to deal with something incredibly heavy and sad is to bring joy and laughter into it. The war in Ukraine is a great example of this and I wish sometimes our industry pulled from this idea more often. I personally have been thinking about how we tell stories that involve trauma. We recently did a project in the freshman DP class and in my opinion there were a lot of stories told that involved trauma but they all did it in a way that was graphic, and somewhat depressing. And while I think there is a time and a place for that, I think there can also be a lot of value in spinning the tough topics and displaying them in a more positive light. I like this idea that one of the best ways to heal from something traumatic is to laugh about it. I would love to do some art, or work on some shows in the future that prioritize laughter and joy even if it is about a particularly difficult topic.
As a Ukrainian-American theatremaker, I found this article so beautifully nuanced to read. I recently created a piece on my “Ukrainian-ish” identity in Basic Design and found the same difficulties in my artistic journey as the playwrights. How do we find the balance between truth, Soviet feeling censored forced patriotism, illuminating hardships, and finding joy? I ultimately opted for using historical backing in my design process and focusing on the landscape; it ultimately got a bit of the cringe patriotism described in this article. I enjoyed how the playwrights are showing Ukraine’s imperfections. It is far from a perfect country, and while the war is unwarranted, Ukraine can’t be painted as an Eastern European oasis either. The historical context given in these plays, specifically about the Polish Ukrainian massacre of 194, is intriguing to me. The current war is not a one-off event but rather the culmination of hundreds of years of political turmoil. Like many artists, I am still pondering how to create meaningful art in a way that doesn’t feel like “trauma porn” for lack of a better word. Illuminating truths is important, but as artists, we also deserve joy. It's a tricky balance.
3 comments:
I am a strong believer of theater uniting people through stories and these Ukrainian playwrights encapsulate that perfectly as they write about something very similar to what they are living through. Although not conventional, often telling tragic events that are relevant to the audience through a comedic tone makes stories that could be unbearable enjoyable and easier to digest. This is why I believe comedies were born. Obviously producing a full scale production is not realistic or attainable during war time. I love how this group of playwrights ran with that making their works street performance. This style of performance is perfect for art like this as using open spaces makes theater more accessible to both the audience and production. This style of performance also lends itself to be more portable than traditional productions. I am curious if any of these pieces will grow into something bigger in the future.
I think there is a lot to be said about the idea that the way to deal with something incredibly heavy and sad is to bring joy and laughter into it. The war in Ukraine is a great example of this and I wish sometimes our industry pulled from this idea more often. I personally have been thinking about how we tell stories that involve trauma. We recently did a project in the freshman DP class and in my opinion there were a lot of stories told that involved trauma but they all did it in a way that was graphic, and somewhat depressing. And while I think there is a time and a place for that, I think there can also be a lot of value in spinning the tough topics and displaying them in a more positive light. I like this idea that one of the best ways to heal from something traumatic is to laugh about it. I would love to do some art, or work on some shows in the future that prioritize laughter and joy even if it is about a particularly difficult topic.
As a Ukrainian-American theatremaker, I found this article so beautifully nuanced to read. I recently created a piece on my “Ukrainian-ish” identity in Basic Design and found the same difficulties in my artistic journey as the playwrights. How do we find the balance between truth, Soviet feeling censored forced patriotism, illuminating hardships, and finding joy? I ultimately opted for using historical backing in my design process and focusing on the landscape; it ultimately got a bit of the cringe patriotism described in this article. I enjoyed how the playwrights are showing Ukraine’s imperfections. It is far from a perfect country, and while the war is unwarranted, Ukraine can’t be painted as an Eastern European oasis either. The historical context given in these plays, specifically about the Polish Ukrainian massacre of 194, is intriguing to me. The current war is not a one-off event but rather the culmination of hundreds of years of political turmoil. Like many artists, I am still pondering how to create meaningful art in a way that doesn’t feel like “trauma porn” for lack of a better word. Illuminating truths is important, but as artists, we also deserve joy. It's a tricky balance.
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