At the Dovzhenka Film Studio, they showed a performance about how Ukrainians love war

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For two consecutive days in the pavilions of the Dovzhenka film studio, the performative play “Safe Space” by Yevgenia Vidishcheva, author and director, was shown. The “voices” of the performance were professional actors and musicians: Anton Slepakov, Nadiya Golubtsova, Marusya Ionova, Maria Leonenko. Musical accompaniment and vibe were created by Andriy Sokolov/Walakos (electronic music), Andriy Barmalii – sad saxophonist, and Oleksandr Yavdyk (drums). The play does not have a plot as such – it is built on dialogues-reflections about life during the war. “Am I alive? Am I temporarily absent?”, “So much suffering, we constantly talk about it. We constantly reflect and yes, we become such broad people. We accept so much and develop so quickly”, “I feel that we are already at some other stage of development or understanding of the world. We are in the center of civilizational development and I have to give birth to some new meanings, some new form of democracy. But I did not choose it. If I were offered to live a normal life and die without having understood its essence, I would chose this”, “I’m really looking forward to spring. For some reason, it seems to me that when the sun is shining, rockets don’t fly”, are just some of the “voices” that sound like markers of a new reality, and at the same time respond like a new form of worldview. Vidlik PROJECTS organized the project. In dialogues and monologues, the artists reflected on the experience of life during the war, the trauma of displaced persons, the ability to find oneself against the background of war and to accept someone else’s experience, which is different from one’s own. Read also: Antiquities museum, “kamasutra” and a showcase with balloons: an exhibition of modern art opened in the Khanenkos. She used phrases that she most often heard from interviewees and that resonated with her. “The text of the play is something that has been floating in my space for the last year. These are fragments of my conversations with various people. Fragments of my constant thoughts and questions. In the text of the play, many different voices of people from my environment – many Ukrainians who left abroad – what they think and talk about. People who lost their homes and live in another city in Ukraine. People who live in Kyiv. In 2022, they traveled with the “Contour” project to the East and South of Ukraine. They talked a lot with people who came to our events – their thoughts, experiences, in particular, were transformed into this text,” says Yevgenia Vidishcheva. The performance “Safe Space” was shown at the Dovzhenko film studio. Photo: press service Finally, the canvas of “Safe Space” was already worked out during the rehearsals – directly with the actors and musicians. “This is a very living text that is constantly changing. A lot depends on the actors, performers, and musicians who somehow perceive this text, make it their own, relive it. For example, not a single line by saxophonist Andrii Barmalia is written in advance, it is born in the process, on stage,” says Yevgenia. Andrii Barmalia’s emotional performance strengthens the dialogues and becomes a certain peak point of each block. The musician Yevgenia invited the saxophonist to the project when she heard the artist’s solo program. “I have a line in the text that when I love people, I admire them and want other people to admire them as well. Part of the performance is from Andrii’s solo program. When I first heard it, it really impressed me. And I thought that it’s about what I’m feeling right now. And a lot of people feel what he’s saying with his music,” says the director. Read also: The title sculpture was carried by 6 loaders: a report from the exhibition that opened at Ya Gallery in Kyiv One of the performers was the musician, leader Anton Slepakov (founder of the bands “VGNVZH” (formerly “Vagonovozhatye”) and “I Drug My Trucker”, the project WarContempt). Participates in dialogues. Reflects on how his attitude towards Russia has changed. “They collaborated with Anton Slepakov in several projects. From WarNyakany, they went to Voznesensk, Mykolaiv region – they did a charity stream there in order to raise money for the reconstruction of the city. When they were on tour in Ukraine and abroad – they talked a lot with him. Excerpts of these conversations is also in the text – about what is happening to us,” says the director. The performance “Safe Space” was shown at the Dovzhenko film studio. Photo: press service Part of the dialogues is devoted to the feeling of falling in love, transformations of positive feelings during the war. “It seems to me that people who do incredible things now do it out of love. Thinking about their home, about their people. I wanted to emphasize that love is not only about falling in love – it is about life. That it is very important to give yourself the right to life is here and now. During this war – and not to live in a permanent waiting room when everything is over – and I can afford this and that,” says the author. In particular, love in “Safe Space” acts as the main component of the opportunity to understand the “other” – the one who left (stayed behind) – a person with excellent experience. “It is very important to talk about love during the war. I feel how much anger and hatred there is now in our reality, in our world. This is a very natural reaction, but it is very scary to lose the ability to love another person, to love our cities, Ukraine. The ability to accept other people with an experience different from mine. I think a lot about how we can all communicate now, when we have a common trauma, but a very different experience,” says Yevgenia. The performance “Safe Space” was shown at the Dovzhenko film studio. Photo: press service The performance was the author’s first attempt to talk about the ongoing war. Evgenia was looking for a non-classical form that could become interesting and therapeutic. “I often ask myself how art can now talk about war during war. Because from my point of view, most art forms don’t work anymore. Art cannot surpass what is happening in our reality. It cannot give more emotion than the ones we already live in. We are not impressed by movies about war – when it is happening right here with us here. The fact that every day we read such news, hear the air raids, people die. It was important to find a form where myself and the entire artistic team can be honest, where we can experiment. We talked about what worries us and try to talk about the future. We got the impression that we succeeded,” says the director. Visual solutions are part of the performance – during the performance of the actors, their image was projected onto the ceiling of the pavilion. To reinforce the message, text was projected in different parts of the location. The projection was created by Pavlo Sirko and Yevhen Orlov, the light artist is Kyrylo Kandratiev. After the performance, the audience is left to discuss – this is part of the “therapy”. “I was impressed that people hugged after the performance, they wanted to share – so everything works,” the director noted. All funds for tickets are transferred by the team to the NGO “Cosmos-tabir” for the realization of a cultural cluster based on the Dovzhenka film studio. They plan to create a permanent platform for contemporary art there. In the future, the play “Safe Space” is planned to be taken on a tour of Ukraine. The performance “Safe Space” was shown at the Dovzhenko film studio. Photo: press service Read also: How to write about war after war and why the enemy should (not) be depicted as primitive: theater artists tell

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