Spectator invited to the II edition of the Congress. Member of ProEnglish Theatre of Ukraine.
Bio
“Despite the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, ProEnglish Theatre of Ukraine hasn’t stopped its creative activities. For the first months of the full-scale war the basement of the theatre transformed into Art Shelter – hosting the residents of the neighborhood and team members of the theatre, who, while volunteering during the day, kept creating video poetries, holding poetry evenings, and creating performances at night. Apart from that, the team of the theatre held a series of workshops for people, where everyone had the space and opportunity to relief the stress of the war with the help of various acting excercises and theatre techniques. In 2 years, ProEnglish Theatre created 9 new performances, most of which talk about different aspects of war. With some of those shows the theatre toured abroad and took part in the international festivals in many European countries, including Spain, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and more. After the shows, the team always holds a discussion with the audience as a means to connect with the spectators and start and intercultural dialogue and create a mutual understanding between people in Ukraine, foreigners and Ukrainian refugees abroad. Talking about theatre spectators in times of war and sharing our experience of engaging various types of audiences (people who are living in the midst of the war, people who had to leave their homes, people who have experienced loss, stress and trauma) we want to expand on the idea of transversality and diversity, as we see theatre as a means to share and understand each other’s culture and experiences and generate space for dialogue”.