LINKAGES: Ukraine, Theatrical Windows Kharkiv - Chattanooga

19 July 2024

Inspired by the successful models of CITD’s (The Center for International Theatre Development, USA) LINKAGES programs in Poland and Hungary, LINKAGES: Ukraine is an ongoing initiative fostering enduring connections between US and Ukrainian playwrights. This program will bring together a diverse group of artists from both countries, starting with Zoom conversations organized into small pods of three to four artists. These exchanges will lay the groundwork for future in-person meetings, allowing participants to delve into each other’s artistic worlds and participate in theatre festivals and workshops.

CITD’s long-standing experience has shown that when creative leaders get to know each other, they find ways to collaborate over time. By building meaningful relationships based on shared goals and challenges, this project is expected to have a lasting impact in both countries.

Due to current travel restrictions from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, for the inaugural year of LINKAGES: Ukraine, four playwrights from our cohort will participate in a script exchange between Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga in Tennessee and a joint team from Theatre na Zhukakh and Kvitka Theatre (Kharkiv Academic Drama Theatre) in Kharkiv, a city currently under intense missile fire.

Short plays by US playwrights Mark Cornell, Garry Lee Posey, and Judy Klass will be translated into Ukrainian and performed by Theatre na Zhukakh in live readings from July 29 to August 5. Meanwhile, Ukrainian playwrights Dmytro Ternovyi and Anna Halas will have their full-length works performed in recorded, staged readings by Ensemble Theatre in early fall 2024. Concurrently, the playwrights will engage in Zoom discussions. Ternovyi and Halas will also be featured on the podcast Lights Up to discuss their creative processes and perspectives.

Inspired by the successful models of CITD’s (The Center for International Theatre Development, USA) LINKAGES programs in Poland and Hungary, LINKAGES: Ukraine is an ongoing initiative fostering enduring connections between US and Ukrainian playwrights. This program will bring together a diverse group of artists from both countries, starting with Zoom conversations organized into small pods of three to four artists. These exchanges will lay the groundwork for future in-person meetings, allowing participants to delve into each other’s artistic worlds and participate in theatre festivals and workshops.

CITD’s long-standing experience has shown that when creative leaders get to know each other, they find ways to collaborate over time. By building meaningful relationships based on shared goals and challenges, this project is expected to have a lasting impact in both countries.

Due to current travel restrictions from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, for the inaugural year of LINKAGES: Ukraine, four playwrights from our cohort will participate in a script exchange between Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga in Tennessee and a joint team from Theatre na Zhukakh and Kvitka Theatre (Kharkiv Academic Drama Theatre) in Kharkiv, a city currently under intense missile fire.

Short plays by US playwrights Mark Cornell, Garry Lee Posey, and Judy Klass will be translated into Ukrainian and performed by Theatre na Zhukakh in live readings from July 29 to August 5. Meanwhile, Ukrainian playwrights Dmytro Ternovyi and Anna Halas will have their full-length works performed in recorded, staged readings by Ensemble Theatre in early fall 2024. Concurrently, the playwrights will engage in Zoom discussions. Ternovyi and Halas will also be featured on the podcast Lights Up to discuss their creative processes and perspectives.