The New York Times: It was hard to find happy teenagers in Ukraine. The pandemic and the war with Russia had trapped some young people in their homes, solitary and fearful, for more than four years. Many did not know how to socialize and could not imagine a future without war.
But two days after her Facebook post, Ms. Korzhenevska heard from the mother of a 16-year-old boy, asking her to accept him in the class.
2 comments:
This article is very meaningful to me, as my family is going through the same thing many the people described in this article are. My country has been at war for a long time, and the lives of Ukrainians have been changed for the worse, for some temporarily, for others permanently. Opportunities like these, where joy and hope are allowed to persist are so important. Whether its an acting class, a production of Cabaret, a Eurovision entry/victory, the arts have played a big role in perpetuating that hope. While it is important to put emphasis on the war effort, and spend resources on the defense of our nations freedom, it is equally as important for us to remember what we are fighting for. I hope projects like these continue to gain funding and support in Ukraine. Слава Україні!
It is beautiful to watch these stories be created in real time and then performed. In things that shatter our reality, being able to lean into art and the communities created through that creation of material; is life. Life floats through the tragedy and the joy. What is really special about live theatre is it provides a space that does not need to be produced to the same level and scale for an audience to witness these stories. What shows and content coming out of Ukraine right now will soon become the historical shows we use as reference for how people actually felt about the events happening. This article furthers my perspective that constantly producing classical productions of shows is limiting the opportunities to tell stories directly relevant to the world around us. With that thought a question wedges its way into my mind. Does society need time to digest wars? Can we produce art surrounding big events during the event? Is this art ready to be consumed by the audience? How much of art produced out of unbelievable situations is for the people who lived through it versus actually sharing that experience with a larger audience?
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