Minneapolis Premiere of “This Is Not A Dream” at Ukrainian American Feb 14-15 Community Center
Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 11:51AM
Nine plays present a variety of views into the daily life of people in or from Ukraine today
The Lex-Ham Community Theater of St. Paul, in partnership with the Ukrainian American Community Center, will be presenting a staged reading of "This Is Not A Dream" – a set of short plays written by nine contemporary playwrights from Ukraine about their life during the current Russian invasion and war there.
The playwrights, known as Young Playwrights Ukraine, founded by New York-based writer Laura Cahill, are young authors - some of whom are still in Ukraine, while others are displaced.
The authors include Anna Brovarna, Anastasia Chala, Taya Fedorrenko, Luka Ivanov, Uliana Klimchuk, Tanya Kostyniuk, Asia Psenychna, Sasha Sereda, and Karina Syrota. The plays were written during a mentorship project started in April 2023. Professional writers and directors worked with the young writers over Zoom for five months. Directed by Sara Skar.
Performances will take place at Ukrainian American Community Center, 301 NE Main Street on Friday, February 14, 7:00pm and Saturday, February 15, 2:00pm.
Tickets - More info - Questions: info@uaccmn.org
* * * Synopsis of the plays * * *
Superhero: A Ukrainian college students visits the parents of her college roommate in North Carolina
Candies, Wedding, Bones: A young woman visits the cemetery where her grandmother is buried. A young man trying to sell wedding dresses encounters her.
Perfect Material: A college film school student who’s been out of Ukraine comes home to make a documentary by talking with her father about his experience fighting the war.
Dnipro: A college student returns to Dnipro to visit her aging and increasingly forgetful grandmother.
The Sea: A couple attempting to escape Ukraine to live in Cyprus use the wife’s mother as a means to escape
Proof of Love: Two young students are held at the police station for taking photos of railroad tracks.
Ruins: A young woman returns to her burnt-out home and encounters her younger much-more-innocent self.
The Old Couple: An elderly couple have left Ukraine and now live in Vienna and discuss the pros and cons of returning to Ukraine.
The Orchid: A doctor and her retired husband living in Ukraine listen to the news of the day on the television while discussing the state of the husband’s orchid.
Performing Arts are a means to preserving and perpetuating Ukrainian Culture and Identity from tyrants set upon the destruction of an entire nation.
