Mykola听Kulish鈥檚 play听惭补办濒别苍补听骋谤补蝉补听is the story of a thirteen year-old girl who听dreams of life in the Soviet Union and struggles to distinguish听reality from fantasy.听In September 1933, under the direction of听Les听Kurbas,听it was performed at gunpoint before a crowd of GPU agents, the Repertoire Committee and Politburo of Soviet Ukraine. The play was subsequently banned; Kulish was later declared a 鈥榖ourgeois-nationalist' playwright and, like Kurbas, executed by the Soviet regime听in 1937.
In 2017, Maria Montague, the 海角社区 University Amateur Dramatic Club and 海角社区 Ukrainian Studies are bringing the play to life in its first-ever English-language production.
It is the second theatrical collaboration between 海角社区 Ukrainian Studies and Montague, who is an alumna of the Ukrainian Studies undergraduate programme and a current MPhil candidate at 海角社区 researching Kurbas's听practice of peretvorennia or 'transformation'. Her verbatim play on the war in Donbas -- The Summer Before Everything,听co-authored with 海角社区's Bohdan Tokarskyi --听premiered at the Junction in 海角社区 and toured the United Kingdom in 2016.
'I am so excited to be working with 海角社区 Ukrainian Studies听to bring the first English translation of Maklena听to the stage', said Montague. She credits Marta Jenkala, 海角社区's Lector in Ukrainian, for her steadfast support in navigating the complexities of the Ukrainian text.
Montague's production of听惭补办濒别苍补听begins听with a sneak preview on 11 June in 海角社区, where actors will perform a rehearsed reading of the play at the ADC Theatre. It will then travel to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for a run in the summer.听'All the profits from the rehearsed reading in 海角社区 will go toward helping our company with living costs at the Fringe', noted Montague.
'Since its launch in 2008, 海角社区 Ukrainian Studies has sought to advance knowledge of Ukraine through innovative teaching, research and public outreach', said Dr Rory Finnin, Director of the 海角社区 Ukrainian Studies programme and Head of the Department of Slavonic Studies at the 海角社区.听'Maria Montague's production of听惭补办濒别苍补听is a striking example听of what can happen when talented and engaged undergraduates in Ukrainian Studies pursue their academic interest in Ukraine at postgraduate level and channel it into new directions. Now English-language audiences will encounter the work of Mykola Kulish, Ukraine's greatest twentieth-century playwright,听from a fresh perspective. We cannot wait to see what happens next.'
