ONLIne program 2023
Ukraine Fringe – a festival for everyone!
All performances of the online platform are unique projects that this year could not come to Ukraine. They are presented on the SceneSaver platform. Donate and support the festival, or just watch the performances for free! Enjoy!
SceneSaver: www.scenesaver.co.uk
45 min
7 ≈ 8 | Aura Fonseca (Italy)
This performance is an immersive and ethereal experience, an ecosystem inhabited by the artist and the audience, where two intersected bodyscapes unfold, mapping her identity and circumscribing her transition.
The piece’s scenography transports the spectator to the absolute simplicity of a work about the body, mind, and soul. Proposing the attentive observation of acts such as awakening, breathing, raising, drying, moving, and unveiling that simultaneously contains boldness and vulnerability.
The infinity-shaped water mirror, the emanating sound, the celestial gown, and the presence of the four natural elements contribute to an otherworldly atmosphere achieved by the use of time and meticulous sculpting of space.
7 ≈ 8 is the culmination of profound introspection and the courage to deconstruct and reconstruct one’s own history, while sharing it.
The 4 Worst Things I’ve Ever Done | Brunswick Productions Ltd (Ireland)
What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?
I don’t mean skipping church because you’re too hungover, bad.
I mean having an affair, bad.
I mean walking out on your children, bad.
I mean opening a tube of green Pringles on a long car journey, bad.
Erin has 4.
4 things that she believes are unforgivable.
4 things that keep her up at night.
The 4 worst things she has ever done, and she’s about to confess them all.
Written and directed by Ewan McGowan, ‘The 4 Worst Things’ is a dark comedy exploring nihilism and what it means to live life without meaning. The show navigates these themes in a darkly comedic and thought-provoking way.
16 min
Read to Me | Dan Horrigan (UK)
Read to Me is a crimedrama romance – a dyslexic criminal on his first day in Strangeways prison receives a letter that could save his life. Who should read it?
60 min
How I Met My Mother | RibbitRePublic Theatre (Canada)
An irresponsible bachelor answers the call to care for his ailing mother, while reckoning with his bad-ass past. But will his new-found skills be enough? A true story of love, family and the power of redemption.
WINNER – Critics Choice Award – Orlando
WINNER – Patron’s Pick – Vancouver
“A BEST-OF-FEST CONTENDER AND NOT TO BE MISSED” – apt613 (Ottawa)
“A MASTER PERFORMER” – UMFM (Winnipeg)
60 min
The Stork Project | Unique Community (UK)
An exploration of the differing perspective of traumatic experiences told form the perspectives of adults and children. Written and performed by Ukrainian Refugees living in London, featuring songs written by the group. What can young people teach us about keeping the sense of fun and play in our lives? And how open are we in our dialogue with young people?
60 min
This is the One | Guest Performer of Asterion Project (Australia)
A piece of clothing can tell a thousand words. Terri’s life is shaped by the items they wear, drawing them closer to the femininity that they have kept secret from the world. But how will Terri’s life change once they wear what they have always wanted to wear? This is the One’ explores the themes of femininity and masculinity, gender norms in society and how clothes form an avenue to break free from these binaries
60 min
Voices from Ukraine II | City Garage Theatre (USA)
It’s the second in a series of readings we did in March as part of the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings Project. It consisted of six short works by Ukrainian writers.
110 min
THE PENELOPIAD | City Garage Theatre (USA)
City Garage presents The Penelopiad by feminist icon Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale. In this remarkable retelling of The Odyssey, Atwood transforms both the power and the politics of the classic tale by shifting the point of view to Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, and of her twelve faithful maids unjustly hanged by the returning “hero.” It takes place in Hades, where these thirteen spirits are trapped for all eternity, telling and retelling their story like angry furies, unable to find redress for what they suffered at male hands. While her husband Odysseus is off fighting pointless wars-for the sake of her beautiful, shameless, aggravating cousin Helen-dallying with nymphs and sirens, and playing the hero, Penelope is holding the kingdom together. All alone, with nothing but her wits, toughness, and strength to rely on, she has to raise her rebellious son, face down dangerous rumors, and keep more than a hundred lustful, brutal suitors at bay. When twenty years later the “hero” finally returns there is indeed hell to pay-but it is Penelope and her twelve faithful maids who pay the tragic price. Atwood gives Penelope a modern voice, witty, pragmatic, yet still filled with pain as she gets to tell her own story at last, and set the record straight. Nudity.
25 min
Walking on Spectrum | Juliana Heng (Malaysia)
“Walking on Spectrum” is a medley show that explores different ways to tell one’s life story through stand-up comedy, spoken word, and storytelling. Juliana Heng has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Having ASD does not make one immune to life challenges. Why not live life with a spunk? Be prepared to be moved, laugh, and celebrate life with Juliana!
25 min
The Booth | Thoreau, NM (USA)
Old joke.
QUESTION: How many stage managers does it take to…?
ANSWER: It’s done.
The Booth is a ribald one-act play that turns the tables on the life of the theatre. Instead of focusing on the actors on stage, this comedy centers on the technicians in The Booth. This video was shot as archival footage for the company from the award-winning live performance at the 2017 Pittsburgh Fringe, then edited for this presentation. Come enjoy the view from behind the scenes, at the tech booth, where it all happens.
60 min
Dedication | Roger Peltzman (USA)
New York pianist, Roger Peltzman’s one-person show, Dedication, recounts his family’s tragic history fleeing the Nazis in war-torn Europe using drama, humor, powerful images and musical performances of everything from blues to Chopin.
Drawn into the story of people he never knew, Peltzman develops a “relationship” with his uncle, Norbert Stern, a brilliant pianist who was murdered in Auschwitz at age 21. Learning that Holocaust trauma can be inherited, Peltzman recounts his coming to terms with second generation survivor trauma and the role of music in helping to manage wounds that will never fully heal.
A singular tale from the Holocaust that is at once extraordinary and relatable.
95 min
ERUPTION – The uprising is not over yet | coletivA ocupação (Brazil)
The coletivA ocupação creates in its second show a choreography of the impossible, a scene of Party and War, which starts from the image that crosses us: What is the end of the world for worlds that have ended long ago? 16 performers transfigure themselves throughout the play into beings of different cosmologies, modifying their bodies to transmute themselves to other worlds.
coletivA is dance is born from the quest of the body that carries a remembrance, the words are redistributed from their ancestral memories, which provoke a presentification, an uprising of the dead.
The eruption is what we have in common, rebel bodies that spin in the tremors of the experience of coloniality in a context of struggle between past, present and future.
60 min
BURY ME OUT OF THIS PLACE | O Bonde Company (Brazil)
Desfazenda – Bury Me Out of This Place focuses its action on the story of characters 12, 13, 23 and 40, black people who as children were saved from the war by a white priest, and live on a farm, taking care of daily tasks, supervised by Zero, a kind of foreman. The priest never leaves the chapel, the war never reached the Farm, and when the whys are questioned, the bell rings and everything always goes back to the way it was before. Almost always.
139 min
MACACOS (APES)| Cia do Sal (Brazil)
MACACOS (APES) is a play that only has an actor and a lipstick, and deals with the urgency of the black life in Brazil. Prejudice against black people is approached on stage based on the story of a black man who seeks answers to the racism that surrounds his daily life and the history of his community. The work unfolds in a flow of thoughts, outbursts and elucidations that arise in scenes based on Brazilian history, as well as in situations experienced by great black artists: Elza Soares, Machado de Assis, and Bessie Smith, until reaching reports and statistics of young people black people arrested and executed by the military police.
31 min
A Scar is Born| Lorelei Zarifian (USA)
In December 2019, she had her stand-up debut at the West Side Comedy Club in NYC with actor Ethan Herschenfeld directed by Stephen Rosenfield. On January 13th, 2020, she presented her first one-woman show in English Excuse My French at the Shakespeare Theatre in Orlando and in May 2021, she performed her new play Frigorific at the International Fringe Festival in Orlando. In October 2021, she performed Frigorific at the Soho Playhouse in New York City and in November 2021 at the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles.
During the pandemic, she wrote and composed her first musical Vive La Difference. In May 2022, she performed her new stand-up A Scar is Born at the Shakespeare Theatre in Orlando. A Scar is Born received the Best World Premiere of San Diego Fringe, the Best of San Francisco Fringe and the Best solo show at Tucson Fringe. The show was performed at the Vault Festival in London in January 2023. Lorelei is thrilled to perform in NYC during the Frigid Festival in February 23.
52 min
Marry, Marry, Quite Contrary | Paper Doll Ensemble (USA)
Cameras. A “Final Three Pact.” Wine. Spanx. When three women form an alliance on a reality TV dating show, lunacy ensues. Marry, Marry, Quite Contrary pries back the masks we wear in public and private to reveal the cracking pressure of maintaining our personas. Join Julie, Taylor, and Bridget on their journey to find love in this devised pastiche of ABC’s The Bachelor, True Crime, and all things tequila-drenched-love-obsessed-pop-culture-horror.
Featuring Grayce Hoffman, Taiwo Sokan, and Sara Vanasse Quagliata.
60 min
Mary & Mietek | Katla Theatre Company (UK)
Ben makes a last attempt to secure his future with Alma. Separated by Brexit, borders and their own uncertainty, they come together to discover the love letters of Ben’s grandparents. 1945 doesn’t seem so far removed…
Utilising the real letters of Mary & Mietek, an English bank clerk and a Polish engineer in the RAF, this two-hander romantic journey guides us between 1945 and the present day. With beautiful live scoring, Mary & Mietek is a testament to the power of love to overcome and break down borders.
70 min
Listen…Can You Hear Me Now?| Gloria Rosen (USA)
Gloria Rosen is the award-winning playwright and performer of the autobiographical show: “Listen… Can You Hear Me Now?“ which centers on her life as a hearing child of deaf parents. Forbidden the use of their language yet still the voice of her family, Gloria lived between the worlds of deaf and hearing. Never fully belonging to either, she continues to follow her singular path to find her own voice. Her story emphasizes the vital importance of family communication, and the need for a common language of understanding love and compassion within the Coda,* deaf and hearing communities. (Directed by Suzanne Bachner) *Child of Deaf Adults
35 min
BRIG: A Ghost Story for Film| Paper Soul (USA)
“Written & Performed by J. Merrill Motz Edited by Derek Lee Miller
On the endless tides of the hungry Atlantic
The crew of The Searcy…changes.
Ol’ Matey Bo’sun locks himself in the brig.
Over the next forty days
He sends us his messages in a bottle.
No sea birds were harmed in the makings of this tale.
This project was conceived, written, & filmed on a $0 budget over the course of 10 days.”
45 min
Rewind-A-Buddy|Paper Soul (USA)
Rewind-A-Buddy Written & Performed by J. Merrill Motz
Buddy wants to be YOUR FRIEND. And Buddy is on home video! Seriously. All you gotta do is pop him in your home VHS system, and Buddy will take the friendship from there! ALL OF IT. Over and over. And over.
Dust off your old VHS player and pop in a copy of REWIND-A-BUDDY, the rentable, watchable, rewindable friend! No more pesky human interaction, technology and Buddy do all the work for you!
Buddy is here to talk to you, take you on a journey through his High School yearbook, and even play a game with you! So what if he’s on the other side of the screen… Buddy is still up to the task!
122 min
After Shakespeare| Slade Wolfe Enterprises Limited (UK)
What happens to Shakespeare’s best-loved heroes and most reviled villains after the curtain falls? Come and join a host of familiar Shakespearean characters as they reflect back on their lives: including Lady Macbeth, Portia, Hamlet and King Hal (Henry V).
65 min
Fantastic Vehicles (4 Decay)| Projekt Antihero (UK)
Hamlet. Bastardized. An Orphan discovers the mysterious circumstances behind the death of his father after his recently widowed mother has moved them both into her new husband’s mansion. Based on a true story.
45 min
Caliban’s Codex| Fetch Theatre (UK)
In the twelve years since Prospero’s departure, Caliban has painstakingly sifted through the ashes of the books of magic, slowly piecing together a new language and a way to save this island from mankind’s abuse.
45 min
Punched| Fetch Theatre (UK)
A play exploring the fall of a working class hero and the alienation of working class culture through the eyes of a Punch and Judy performer – Punched. This hard hitting performance uses original script from the 1840’s alongside award winning writer John Knowles’s lyrical script.
29 min
Pressure Level, Pulse Rate | Volodymyr Serdiuk, playwright (Ukraine)
ProEnglish Theatre of Ukraine, World of English Speaking Theatres and Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings invite you to watch the stage readings of contemporary Ukrainian playwrights.
55 min
Stormy – The Opera | Stingaree (UK&USA)
It uses the life and times of burlesque queen, Miss Stormy, as a conduit to explore America’s turbulent present and its possibly terrifying and divided future. There are three Stormys in our piece: Stormy Heart, Stormy Mind, and Stormy Soul (but crucially only one spotlight!). They tell the story of America’s battle against Otherness, with puppets, verse, music, dance, and HUMOUR.
126 min
The Tragedy of Dorian Gray | Blue Devil Theatre (UK)
It’s 1965, the world has changed, and London is swinging. In a studio in Chelsea, a young man is about to have his portrait painted. From there, Dorian’s story of fame, vanity, lust and corruption takes us on a twisted odyssey through heartbreak, betrayal and a touch of bloody murder.
35 min
Easy To Break Something | Polina Poliakova (Ukraine&Denmark)
Easy To Break Something is a project by director and performer Polina Poliakova and scenographer Bjørn Birk Christensen. The main topic is domestic violence, physical as well as psychological, and how this pattern can be passed from generation to generation – but also how this circle can be broken.
The performance deals very much with the topic of tyranny as well, which has once again become very relevant to discuss and shine a light on after russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We show a glimpse into the mind of a tyrant as we imagine it, and try to explore what has led him to this state.
Polina is born and raised in Ukraine but currently resides in Denmark as a refugee. With the performance, she asks the question: is it only the war that makes you run away from home? By transforming experiences from her childhood into metaphorical scenes on stage, she tells a very personal story in a way that’s relevant to a wide audience.