What lengths do people go to for power? How can power change us?
As Ukraine scooches farther away from Soviet control, Russia’s power has been threatened. In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and started an armed conflict in Ukraine, a conflict that is still happening to this day. It turned into a full fledged war in 2022, and has done nothing but cause the loss of life and property. What does it mean to live in this environment?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated, “Almost everyone has at least one person on their phone who will never pick up again.”
Loss for the Ukrainian people is inescapable. As one ruler, Putin, seeks to conquer, men, women and children are having their entire lives destroyed and taken from them. After experiencing so much grief, what is the point in hoping anymore?
Uzhhorod became a refuge for a population of Ukrainians during the invasion. Vyacgeslav Tehorov, a director, recognized the pain that their people were going through and connected it to theatre. He related this pain to the themes of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”
A group of non-professional actors from Theatre Studio of IDP’s Uzhik in Ukraine banded together with Tehorov to create this production. In times of uncertainty and heartbreak, they sought the gift of language, acting and spectacle to escape their reality. Being performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company, in The Other Place, they have the opportunity to share their story with many people, most of whom are probably unaware of the situation. I wish I was more educated, myself.
This definitely was an interesting production that I don’t regret watching. Could I understand a word of it? No. However, after already reading the play previously, I had a good grasp on the story, so it did not take as much brain power as I anticipated it would.
The set was minimal, which I think was intentional, to represent the limited resources the group was probably working with. I really liked the moving white, translucent set pieces they used throughout, and though it was an interesting apparatus to utilized. It was definitely a different adaptation than I was expecting, because Gloucester, Edmund and Edgar were left out of the script, but it allowed them to focus on the King’s relationship and betrayal to his daughters.
Although the actors were not professional, they still had great projection and intentionality behind their words. I don’t think we were meant to focus on the acting which, as an actor, was hard for me. Which is great! It’s awesome to be challenged, especially on a trip meant for education.
The most remarkable part about the production was not necessarily the production itself, but the purpose behind it. Theatre is a form of catharsis for me, and I pretty much have boring white-girl issues. I can only imagine how it feels for the Ukrainians to find solace in the midst of a war.
I think that this play was an interesting choice for Tehorov, because I think it speaks on Vladimir Putin’s sanity. I mean, there must be something wrong with you if you’re going to start a humanitarian crisis over a country wanting some space from you. It parallels King Lear’s descent into madness and the extent that people go to have control, ruining lives in his way.
I hope that there is some sort of ceasefire seen in Ukraine in our lifetime. Like the humanitarian crisis in Palestine, people are starving and suffering for the purpose of greed. It makes me feel lucky and privileged to not face that reality, and thankful to share an escape like theatre.
Theatre in London U of A 