ProEnglish Theatre’s Alex Borovenskiy on making theatre in Ukraine
When we were asked if we would like to record a podcast with a theatre company based in Kyiv, Ukraine, well, you don’t say no to that do you! So we tasked our reviewer Dave B with the task of making it happen. And that was how, on Boxing Day morning, he found himself on Zoom with ProEnglish Theatre, direct from their theatre which they have now rebranded as the Art Shelter. It is a theatre turned into a bomb shelter that houses local elderly people, parents with kids and 8 cats. It really is quite remarkable that they could find the time to chat.
We talk about how the theatre is still going, what it was like hosting a Christmas party, and how they found themselves working with Finborough Theatre to put on shows both in London and then Kyiv itself.
Considering the situation the recording went remarkably well, except for one drop out in the middle where we thought we’d lost them for good (thankfully it was just an internet glitch) and then as you will hear, the ending drops out suddenly just as we are saying our farewells.
It was an honour to be able to show our support to such an incredible theatre, and we believe makes for an inspirational listen.
You can watch ProEnglish Theatre’s shows online at SceneSaver here. This is free to watch, but if you make any donations it will go to Pro English Theatre and the artists involved in the work.
You can find out more about ProEnglish Theatre on YouTube here. You can also keep up to date with their latest news by following them on Twitter here.
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