This is not about “a woman with a lily growing inside”, but about love broken down into molecules

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The capital’s Wild Theater played the first premiere since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Screenings took place on August 17 and 18 at “Scene 6”, in the Dovzhenko Center. And not without allusions and symbolism. But everything in turn. They surprised the audience even before the premiere Posters, which began to appear on social networks a few weeks before the premiere, surprised and intrigued – both the fans of “Dyky” and the generally well-read audience – the theater “swooped” at the “quirky Vianova love”. In other words, the performance “Foam of Days”, based on the novel of the French modernist writer Boris Vian – difficult, metaphorical and completely whimsical – was announced with the direction of Natalka Sivanenko, intriguing the audience even more with the cast – most of the actors are debutants in “Dyko”. Theatergoers were interested: And why is “Wiky”, which usually immerses the viewer in the “real world of Ukrainians without decorations” – suddenly turned to material that is not characteristic of itself? One more question that was on the surface: “Will Vian’s “Noises” be staged in such a way as to preserve the thoroughly subjective, non-linear, symbolic world of his characters?” After all, the fascination with the novel (and Vian in general) rests mainly on whether you managed to believe and dive into this whirlpool of metaphors and “borderline passions” with your head? Yaroslav Kravchenko on Stage 6. Photo: Facebook Wild Theater Conventionally: there is a theater where the story somehow acquires a certain linearity in order to be told, played and understood by the audience. In addition, the “picture” is constructed according to the available means. And there is a work by Vian, in which “the door slams with the sound of a gentle slap on the bare back” (and this is important), pate is prepared from an eel that lives in the faucet and hunts for toothpaste with a pineapple flavor, and the walls shrink and the decoration of the apartments changes, relative to the internal state of the characters. Not to mention the through-and-through metaphor, which, by the way, even those who have not read the books are familiar with (the film of the same name with Audrey Tautou was released in 2013) – one of the heroines has an ephemeral disease and this also affects the world perception of the heroes. The Wild Theater played its first premiere during the invasion. Photo: Facebook Wild Theater “We wrote in the announcement that if this performance were coffee, it would be filter coffee, if it were the sea, it would be the Black Sea at night. To which one of the subscribers clarified: “Ah, this is the story about “a woman with a flower growing inside?”, laughingly quoted the first comments to the announcements of the owner of Wild Yaroslav Kravchenko just before the show. She noted that she is not against such an interpretation, but the performance will not be about this: – “Foam of Days” is about feelings, strong dependence and attachment. Today is such a time when empathy, the ability to feel people, emotions – often interferes and hurts. But the ability to feel emotions is what ultimately makes us human.” The first screening of “Foam of Days” took place between air alarms. Photo: Facebook Wild Theater What means were used to immerse Vian in the world From the first minutes when the dreamy 22-year-old Kolen appeared on the stage ( played by Pavlo Spegun), who hopes to fall in love by any means, because “this is his day today”, and the virtuoso chef Nikolay (played by Leonid Sherever), who is just in the kitchen hunting for a turkey of the right size – it began to be clear – this is definitely about Vian Read also: “The de-nationalization of theaters and operas is homework for their managers”: Deputy Minister of Culture Halyna Grigorenko Throughout the first act, the “wild” managed to follow the book almost one hundred percent while preserving embarrassing and atmospheric elements, like a vending machine for a drink that is being prepared from the mood of the characters – where the emotion is won on the keys, or dialogues with house mice, which are important participants in the story. At the same time, all this (sorry, a gourmet metaphor is requested) – was seasoned with such original, but such “Vianese” plastic and plot solutions that periodically it seemed that the work of an outrageous nonconformist moved into the new century (more precisely, ignored any time frames and restrictions) and materialized without losing its canvas and mood. “Foam of days” posters. Photo: Facebook Wild Theater “There are only two things: love – in all its forms – with cute girls and the music of “New Orleans” and Duke Ellington. Everything else must disappear, because it is ugly”, – a quote from the preface of Viana appeared on the stage . For an hour and a half, for me personally, there was only the world of love, vintage jazz and the feeling that this world was being drawn to me by a warm sea – for some reason I imagined it as purple with golden flashes (probably the lighting played that way). Additional connotations were given to the characters, without a doubt, by the actors. And, most of all, I apologize for the selectivity, Dmytro Usov, who, as often happens in “Dyko”, took away all the minor characters – made them “the audience’s favorites” (laughter and applause left no doubt as to who is “ruling” here), and also created a parallel story within history. Dmytro Usov embodied the role of Jesus. Photo: Facebook Wild Theater By the way, in his image of Jesus (spoiler) – one could easily parallel Dmytro’s nickname in the party “IsUsov” – and this situational postmodern technique – added depth and emphasized the “family” of the theater and the audience. And the fact that “Wild” is often a family story with a loyal audience – I once again made sure, communicating during anxiety. My first interlocutor, Oleksandra, comes to their performances on purpose from Brussels, and the other, Marina, whom I met on the street with a glass of drink, was in the theater for the first time during the full-scale war. He explains it like this: “Even if I don’t like the book, I’ll go anyway, because I trust it. Always powerful and relevant.” By the way, Dykiy didn’t leave the audience without a “topical news”: the same Dmytro Usov, in one of the incarnations, “revealed” about the recent “disruption” of Ostapchuk and company: “10 out of 10”. “Foam of Days” was shown for two days. Photo: Facebook Wild Theater A special strength is the visual series, in particular animation. She powerfully created this story of whimsical, all-encompassing, sacrificial and very important love. Everything played: from the heart on the improvised screen, which pulsated eloquently, while the audience was gathering (to sit down and immediately leave – through “ybn rusnya”), and later, obviously, it was in an empty hall – for almost an hour, when we all waited for completion of the alarm and the beginning of the performance. And up to animated snow, rain, mythical creatures, abstraction. All this powerfully completed immersion in the world of life as love. The performance was based on the work of Boris Vian. Photo: Facebook Wild Theater Spectators and actors couldn’t wait for the 2nd act – what are the carnations for? As it turned out later, on Thursday, the story, in which the wild people were completely immersed, ended with applause at the end of the first act. Its continuation was not destined to be seen that day – “Ybn Rusnia” played until almost midnight, but the most devoted viewers were waiting for the continuation (if the anxiety suddenly ended – because the second act was supposed to last only half an hour). Subsequently, even more devoted, who took their time in the subway, continued to wait for the recording of the 2nd act, which the organizers had promised. But, unfortunately – later everyone went home – we have realities that even art has to put up with. Read also: Imported Ukrainian theater: How our theatergoers spread Ukrainian culture and the truth about the war abroad Later, the audience will receive a video of Act 2 recorded the next day, and the authors will receive feedback. My feedback came in handy instantly – Dyko succeeded in everything: to show Vian without losing his whimsicality and depth, to keep the audience tired of anxiety and heat on their nerves and to make them wait for “more”, and in the end to play – in only 1.5 hours per evening without anxiety – a complete story that gave an idea of ​​the play – and it is powerful. I wanted to cry after Yaroslava Kravchenko’s Facebook post, supplemented by a photo of artificial flowers: “The carnations were left lying on the stage without waiting for the second act. Whoever said that doing theater during wartime is easy – I will spit in your face.” The next day, Dyky showed “Foam” in its entirety. Artificial carnations during the “Foam of Days” performance. Photo: Facebook Wild Theater Is a play about love a challenge for the theater and a thoughtful topical issue? For Dyky’s landlady, the performance was about self-understanding. In a private conversation after Yaroslav Kravchenko shared her thoughts about the “Foam of Days”, which eventually took place. My question sounded literally like this: “Why Vian? And what did they want to stir up (and stirring up is the must-have for “Dyky”) in your audience?”. Yaroslava commented: “The play is very different aesthetically and stylistically from everything that was in Dyky. Because we have never done a play about love before, we have never broken it down into its components (in the title, she allowed herself to replace the word with “molecules”. – ed.). All our plays are socially accented, and this one is the first one that appeals not so much to a person’s responsibility for his life in society, but to a person’s understanding of himself.” For director Natalka Sivanenko, this is a play about trying to hide in illusions. About those who in every possible way avoided and hid from thoughts about the probable war. “Rehearsals for “Foam of Days” began in February 2022. And only after a full-scale invasion, we realized that we were like the heroes of this play. We ignored reality because we were afraid that we would not be able to cope with it. For me, the most important thing in the material was follow how the heroes gradually find the strength to live not only white, but also black, and find their freedom in this. How to accept pain and despair, but at the same time keep going. After all, hiding from everything that is scary, you can miss your own life,” commented the director. Yaroslava Kravchenko presented “Foam of Days”. Photo: Facebook Wild theater For me, it is an intense, thoughtful therapy. Almost from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia (approximately from April), Ukrainian theaters began to actively invite the audience, literally picking up new ideas on the fly that would meet new challenges. It was different: someone staged documentary performances – and it was cool from time to time, although they were afraid to hurt and overdo it with pain. At the same time, there was talk of therapy in the air – “the theater is becoming even more therapeutic,” director Maksym Golenko told me in an interview. Therefore, everyone looked for the opportunity to heal in their own way: some in comedies as an opportunity to “distract” the viewer, some in talking about trauma (like, say, the performers of “Safe Space”) – and it also worked. Today there is already a whole pool of successful or less successful attempts. In this context, one would like to call Dyky’s premiere thoughtful therapy. A balanced and precise encouragement to think about yourself, about your feelings and pains, which can and should be different from others (I remember the social message in the subway: “Your emotions are important”). But in the end, it’s also about love – subjective, mystically painful – which Vian’s heroes are so eager to find, which gives them the motivation to live, and in the end partially takes their lives, but there is one but… (more in the book and the play). Dmytro Usov in the image of Jesus. Photo: Facebook Dyky Teatr So, is this not an attempt to remind the viewer about the unique, valuable, incredible world inside each of us – yes, fragile (especially today, unfortunately), but beautiful and valuable – compared to another, insignificant, what for Vianom is only the “noise of days”. When I sat down to write the text, the contamination of Churchill’s fake phrase and the feeling after the performance suddenly arose: “If we don’t have love in us, then what are we fighting for?”. Postscript I received the recording of the second act in a few days. Once again, I was convinced that “Wild” is not only the material and direction, but also the powerful work of individual actors. In order not to spoil too much and not to offend the other cast by pointing out the “favorites” – I will just briefly note that I will watch the performance with the actors who were there on the first day. Either she got used to the improvisations of Dmytro Usov (IsUsov), or, indeed, the impressions from the first act were a little lost along the way – and it was difficult to switch gears. So I ordered two of Viana’s works and am buying tickets for the next shows in September.

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