Mariupol Drama

Oleksandr Gavrosh, based on accounts from the actors
Mariupol Drama Theatre and HOME
HOME, Manchester

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Mariupol Drama Credit: Tiberi Shiutiv
Mariupol Drama Credit: Tiberi Shiutiv
Mariupol Drama Credit: Tiberi Shiutiv
Mariupol Drama Credit: Tiberi Shiutiv
Mariupol Drama Theatre
Mariupol Drama Theatre

The invasion of Ukraine initially showed the limitations of the Russian army in an almost farcical manner. Anticipating parades after an easy victory, Russian soldiers packed dress uniforms instead of ammunition and Ukrainian farmers towed away tanks that had run out of fuel. It did not take long, however, for the Russian soldiers to demonstrate they were more barbarians than Keystone Cops.

In March 2022, hundreds of Mariupol residents and their children took refuge from the conflict in the basements of the Mariupol Drama Theatre, generally referred to as ‘Mariupol Drama’. Despite the word ‘Children’ being written in big letters in Russian on the asphalt on both sides of the theatre, the soldiers ignored the international law of war and of civilised behaviour and bombed the building. The central part of the theatre was entirely destroyed. About 600 people were found dead under the ruins—mainly women, children and the elderly.

Mariupol Drama is a verbatim play by Oleksandr Gavrosh, based upon accounts from people who were sheltering inside the theatre during the tragic events and who perform in the play—actors Olena Bila and Ihor Kytrysh, their son Matvii and theatre director Vira Lebedynska. HOME Manchester sets a strong atmosphere to welcome the play: a 12-foot puppet in traditional Ukrainian dress (the flowers in her hair suggesting a symbol of spring) and a choir singing mournful folk tunes greets the audience.

Director Yevhen Tyshchuk misses no opportunity to push emotional buttons. The request to turn off mobile phones is followed by advice on action to be taken in the event of an air raid; there is a minute’s silence in respect of the lives lost in the atrocity and a recorded address by President Zelenskyy, the only statesman worthy of respect. When an air raid plunges the theatre into darkness, the cast beg the audience to use the flashlights on their mobile phones as illumination.

The setting is stark with the stage marked off by ‘crime scene’ tape and the Russian word for ‘children’ scribbled in chalk on the ground. The people who took refuge in the building are symbolised by a clothesline of costumes from the theatre that hangs over the stage and collapses at a key moment.

Gavrosh’s script establishes the affection residents felt for Mariupol and its theatre. Olena and Ihor take a romantic view of the seaside location and, although Vira is initially deterred by the high level of air pollution, she agrees that improvements are made over time. The regrets of the family at the choices made in desperation are deeply moving, Olena worries when, in evacuating their flat, she forgets to pack her son’s inhaler, while he frets that his collection of superhero toys are left behind.

An awful, fatalistic atmosphere hangs over the play. Vira choses to stay at the theatre as she lives alone and reasons if her flat is bombed, there will be no one to bury her body. Refugees in the building become scavengers—reduced to tearing up theatre seats to provide cushions to sleep upon and to make space for the growing number of people. It is hard to avoid a sense of encroaching doom as the savage, trigger-happy Russian army bomb one building after another (including the maternity hospital), making an attack on the theatre inevitable.

Yet the refugees are caught between the devil and the deep—a promised ‘safe corridor’ for them to exit is slow to materialise, and there is evidence—cars riddled with bullets—that those who try to escape do not get far. Although the family manage to leave, Vira remains behind and has to face the final horror of stepping over the bodies of those who died in the bombing.

Mariupol Drama catches the full horror of innocent people living under siege—the monotony of enduring terror on a daily basis and being incapable of taking any action. It is a production that makes a very moving drama out of a tragedy.

Reviewer: David Cunningham

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