Barvinok
BY Lianna Makuch
“Barvinok is a special kind of behind-the-scenes achievement in theatrical storytelling… You shouldn’t miss the chance to see it…”
After generations of conflict, a new crisis opens old wounds.
Hania’s Baba has a secret. A secret she’s bringing with her to her grave.
Since moving into the long-term care centre Hania’s grandmother has been restless. She’s agitated. Something from her past is haunting her. She desperately asks Hania to return to their Ukrainian homeland and seek out a missing piece of their family history. Hania’s search brings her to the edge of the ongoing war in Eastern Ukraine.
Through internet-enabled networks, Hania is connected to Pavlo and Misha, two late-20s war veterans who agree to help her navigate the wartorn countryside from Slovyansk, to Pisky, along the front line and into dangerous territory. It is when Hania finally finds her long lost family that she makes a startling discovery, and must confront the truth about her Baba’s past.
Inspired by personal accounts from war-torn Ukraine in 1944 and true stories from the country’s ongoing war.
First produced by Pyretic Productions in association with Punctuate! Theatre, March 2019
Genre: Drama
Acts: 2
Run time: 120 minutes
Male roles: 2
Female roles: 4
DEVELOPMENT
Set in 2017, just 3 years after the Russian invasion in 2014, Barvinok weaves traditional polyphonic Ukrainian folk music and dramatic storytelling to tell a personal story behind the unimaginable experience of war, both past and present.
The play is inspired by the experiences of the playwright’s grandparents who fled Ukraine during WWII, and true accounts of people interviewed in conflict zones in Eastern Ukraine. To develop this play, Lianna Makuch traveled to Ukraine and ventured within just 5km of what was then the frontline, where she interviewed dozens of people affected by the ongoing war. Lianna returned in October 2018 to further develop and workshop the play with Kyiv-based local theatre company Wild Theatre and presented a sold-out staged reading at the infamous Les Kurbas Theatre.
Barvinok is currently being adapted into a feature length screenplay with the generous support of the REACH Award from the Shevchenko Foundation.
Select Media
“Makuch, Lundeen and MacKenzie have done a remarkable job of creating a theatrical experience that ties together a heritage journey with thoughtful commentary…”
— Karen Fricker, Toronto Star
“Tightly written, beautifully designed, skillfully performed. It’s well worth your time to pick up the pieces.”
— Ilana Lucas, Mooney on Theatre
“[Barvinok] packs a punch… Makuch’s passion and creativity shine throughout the show.”
— Amy Strizic, My Entertainment World
Production History
Westbury Theatre (Edmonton AB) September 21 – 25, 2022
ArtsPlace (Canmore, AB) - Oct 6,7, 2022
NewWest Theatre (Lethbridge, AB) - Oct 14 - 24 (Sterndale Bennett Theatre)
Tarragon Theatre Guest Presentation (Toronto, ON) - March 7 - 16, 2019 (Extraspace)
Wild Theatre - Staged Reading (Kyiv, UA) - Oct 15, 2018 (Les Kurbas Theatre
Westbury Theatre (Edmonton, AB) - March 1 - 10, 2018
“[Barvinok] is the most powerful presentation that I have seen on the long history of travesties that the people of Ukraine have suffered from the time of Stalin through Hitler and now under Putin.”
Accolades
ACUA-URDC Award 2018 (Alberta Council for Ukrainian Arts – Ukrainian Research and Development Centre)
Rena Hanchuk & Yaroslav Kitynskyy Artist Award 2018
Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards: Nominated in four categories
• Outstanding Independent Production
• Outstanding New Play
• Outstanding Multi-Media Design
• Outstanding Score of a Play or Musical