About the Playwright
Anastasiia Kosodii is from Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv. She is a Ukrainian playwright and director, and a co-founder of the Theater of Playwrights in Kyiv. She was a co-founder of the New Drama Theater in Zaporizhzhia. Before the full-scale Russian invasion of 2022, Anastasiia often worked with NGOs in Eastern Ukraine in towns on the front line of the ongoing war (2014–2022) between Ukraine and Russia. Her international work has most often been connected with the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, and the Münchner Kammerspiele Theater. After the Russian invasion Anastasiia temporarily moved to Germany. She organized a series of reading under the title of Vom Krieg (About the War — Ukrainian Playwrights Tell of Life During the Russian Invasion) in a number of theatres around the world, including the Royal Court Theatre (London), Münchner Kammerspiele, Gorki Theater (Berlin), NTM Nationaltheater Mannheim, Schauspielhaus Wien, Staatstheater Hannover, and ETA Hoffmann Theater (Bamberg). In the fall of 2022, Anastasiia will begin work as a writer-in-residence at National Theater Mannheim.
Recorded Live Performance
cast
Emily Lagace (Pilgrim 1) is a performer, director, playwright, and researcher from Maine, USA currently completing her MPhil in Theatre and Performance at Trinity College Dublin. Emily completed her undergraduate degree at Wagner College in NYC in 2020, receiving a BA English and BA Theatre Studies. The following year, she served as one of twelve Wagner Presidential Fellows facilitating the return to theatre after the pandemic. As well as Ireland, Emily has studied vocal performance and acting in NYC, London, and Dresden, Germany. Past performance credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia), Steel Magnolias (M’Lynn), A Flea in Her Ear (Antoinette, Olympia) and Clue (Yvette). Emily’s current area of research focuses on early modern conceptions of the body and the subsequent physiopsychology of the body in Shakespeare’s works. Her aim with this research is to make early modern plays more accessible to academics and practitioners alike and facilitate a shift in the modern perception and language of the body. Emily would like to thank Dixon Graham for asking her to be a part of the Ukrainian Play Readings and the entire cast for opening themselves up to such vulnerable subject matter.
Еліна Герасимчук - акторка та режисерка з Чернігова, наразі навчається фільмейкінгу у Трініті. Еліна має на меті відкрити сучасний театр, який даруватиме людям незабутні емоції та спонукатиме до роздумів. Вона також була в жюрі вокальних конкурсів та є багаторазовою чемпіонкою України з поулденсу. Її учні також відомі як чемпіони України з повітряної гімнастики. Сьогодні, Еліна є одною з організаторок та режисерок цього заходу.
«Я дуже вдячна Ірландії за її зацікавленість у не тільки допомозі Україні, а ще й у нашій культурі. Сподіваюсь, цей проєкт допоможе іноземцям усвідомити нашу ментальність, переживання та важливість підтримки наших збройних сил»
Elina Herasymchuk (Pilgrim 2) is an actress and director from Chernihiv who is currently studying filmmaking at Trinity. Elina aims to open a contemporary theater that will provide people with unforgettable emotions and provoke reflections. She has also served as a judge in vocal competitions and is a multiple-time champion of Ukraine in pole dance. Her students are also known as champions of Ukraine in aerial sports. Today, Elina is one of the organizers and directors of this event.
"I am very grateful to Ireland for its interest not only in helping Ukraine but also in our culture. I hope this project will help foreigners understand our mentality, feelings, and the importance of supporting our armed forces."
Dixon Graham (Director) is a theatremaker and researcher from Charleston, South Carolina (USA) currently completing her MPhil in Theatre and Performance at Trinity College Dublin. Dixon completed her undergraduate degrees at Clemson University in South Carolina in 2018, receiving a BA in Production Studies in Performing Arts with a Minor in Music and BS in Marketing. She is passionate about creating quality theatre that engages the audience on multiple levels and interdisciplinary collaboration. Her current area of research concerns staging emotionally provocative subjects and how we might anticipate, navigate, and address the potential effects of performing these subjects for both practitioners and audiences. She is a producer, director, sound and projection designer, and actor for this event, which is also a part of the practice-based portion of her current research. Following the completion of her MPhil at the end of the summer of 2023, she hopes to further research the different methods and mediums for immersive storytelling and how an audience's engagement and perception of the story may change with the different methods.
"I am constantly amazed and inspired by the incredible talent, beautiful culture, and unwavering strength that every Ukrainian carries with them and I am honored to have been a part of this project to help share these incredible stories with the world."