“I just want to live”. New theatre play depicts the lives of forcibly displaced persons in Ukraine

“A few months ago, I met with Ali, a young refugee from Afghanistan. He brought to the meeting a 40-page long text he wanted to turn into a theatre play,” recalls Slava Zhyla, Director of the Kyiv Academic Theatre “Actor”.

At the time, images of turbulence in Afghanistan after the fall of the Afghan Government and people seeking to flee the country and the humanitarian crisis that followed were airing in the news all over the world, including Ukraine. Slava, empathetic towards the situation of Afghans, felt he had to help forcibly displaced people tell their story.

“Both Dariia, who co-authored the play, and I were really happy when we received confirmation from Slava that he was willing to direct the play at . We were losing hope as a few theatres had previously refused. We even thought we would have to get on stage and perform ourselves!”, said Ali, head of the Youth Integration Club, which unites young activists in Kyiv – refugees, internally displaced people, and migrants.

To produce the play, the Youth Integration Club received a small grant under UNHCR’s Community Support Initiative programme. UNHCR’s partner, Charitable Foundation “Rokada” joined the project and helped the team immensely. “Every day, we meet people seeking asylum in Ukraine. We help them, and we support their cases closely. We are devastated when they have problems, and we are happy when they succeed. The play reflects the plight of these people,” said Nataliia Gurjiy, the head of Rokada.

“We wrote the stories of our lives because we wanted everybody to know that it was not our choice to flee our countries. We were forced to do it,” said Dariia. She continues: “For example, my father was an investigative journalist and he exposed dangerous people. After months of threats and arrests, he took his family and fled to Ukraine in search of safety, as it was too unsafe to stay.”

Dariia recalls that despite “looking Ukrainian”, she experienced a lot of bullying as a child. “I am grown now, I speak Ukrainian and I have great friends, but I would not wish to anybody what I’ve experienced. Theatre art is a great medium to foster understanding towards refugees and internally displaced persons. We want people and society to be more inclusive and welcoming to refugees, foreigners and people with different religions,” explained Dariia.

After months of rehearsals, the show eventually premiered on 1 December, at Kyiv Academic Theatre for Children and Youth. Seven actors, all theatre art students from Karpenka Karoho National University, played the characters whose lives are based on real stories of individuals with painful experiences of forced displacement, and integration to a new country.

“The play consists of life stories of refugees and internally displaced persons forced to flee their homes seeking safety for their families. The action takes place in a bunker, out of time, out of space, where all discussions about refugees can be held. This play is an absolute illustration of what is happening and being discussed in society now. And I think we have succeeded. Through plasticity, through spatial solutions and music, we convey the very atmosphere of the refugee issue,” explained the director of the play Slava Zhyla.

UNHCR’s Representative in Ukraine attended the premiere: “There are many stereotypes about who refugees and internally displaced persons are, but the truth is that they are individuals just like the rest of us. Because of threatening circumstances often beyond their control, their lives turned upside down and they became forced to seek protection and support in a foreign country, or in another part of their own country. The young actors illustrated this experience so well, and UNHCR will look for opportunities to replicate this play in other theatres and online to deliver this important message to a wider audience,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing.

At the premiere, Mrs. Therese Healy, the Ambassador of Ireland to Ukraine, explained that refugees bring important human capital to the countries they flee to. “In Ireland, we value the contribution of migrants and refugees coming to our country and we appreciate the talents and skills they bring along. We are currently changing direction, from the mere tolerance of people who differ from us in some way, to really celebrating the diversity and embracing it as a basis of our culture,” said the Ambassador.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) globally and in Ukraine is committed to safeguarding the rights and well-being of people who have been forced to flee. Together with partners and communities, the organisation works to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find protection in another country. For over 70 years, UNHCR has helped many millions of displaced persons restart their lives.

As part of its mandate to support forcibly displaced communities in Ukraine, UNHCR developed a Community Support Initiative programme. Ideas and projects are brought by members of communities. They aim to promote awareness around forcible displacement and to improve the lives of people in such situations.

This project was possible due to the generous support of UNHCR donors, to whom we are very grateful.

The video recording of the play will soon be shared via UNHCR’s Facebook page, please subscribe to be updated: https://www.facebook.com/UNHCRKyiv

 

 

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