On 16 April 2025, Harvard University (USA) hosted the international premiere of Tigers, a Ukrainian musical based on The Hunters and the Hunted by dissident writer Ivan Bahrianyi. The performance featured 11 songs and selected dialogue translated into English by Anna Halas, Kyrylo Beskorovainyi, and Anton Humaniuk, with musical accompaniment by Ukrainian pianist Ruslan Ramazanov.
Created by Kyrylo Beskorovainyi, Anton Humaniuk, and Bohdan Reshetilov, the staged reading took place at the Lippmann House with an American cast, directed by Lisa Rafferty. The event was organised in collaboration with the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University and the popular science media outlet Kunsht. It was made possible with support from the European Union under the House of Europe programme.
Cast:
Gregory Mnogogreshny – Dominic DaSilva
Major Medvin – Timothy Lawton
Natalka – Olivia Valianti
Fiona, Prisoner #2 – Jessica Gates
Sirko, Arsenyev, NKVD officer – Austin Martin
Tigers tells the story of Gregory Mnogogreshny, a young Ukrainian aviation engineer unjustly sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Soviet regime. During his transfer, he escapes the ‘death train’ by leaping into the Siberian taiga. As he battles the wilderness, he finds refuge with the Sirko family — Ukrainian immigrants living in harmony with nature and hunting tigers. In their care, Gregory discovers both shelter and love. But danger follows close behind, as NKVD Major Medvin is determined to find and eliminate him.
The Ukrainian premiere took place on 2 June 2023 at the Kyiv National Operetta Theatre, with more performances set for 19 April, 11 May, and 29 June 2025; the production received wide acclaim, winning Best Musical at Kyiv Pectoral 2023 and Best Musical Performance at 6th Ukrainian Theatre Festival and Award “GRA.”
This production is part of a growing interest in exploring contemporary and historical texts from Ukraine, especially those that have remained lesser-known due to language barriers. The translation and presentation of such works create space for global understanding and dialogue.
“The musical we presented at Harvard is based on a novel by Ivan Bahrianyi, a Ukrainian writer who himself survived the Soviet camps. His work offers a painful yet essential testimony to the era of repression. In one of his texts, Bahrianyi wrote that while Henry Ford was building assembly lines for the construction of cars in the United States, the Soviet authorities were constructing assembly lines for the destruction of human souls. Sadly, those words still ring true today.
The musical premiered in Kyiv in 2023, and we’re honored to now bring it to an international audience at Harvard’s Lippmann House—the home of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and a space that champions truth and freedom of speech. This project matters not only as a work of art, but also as an effort to tell the world the truth about Ukraine’s past, still obscured by decades of Russian and Soviet disinformation.
Today, with the full-scale war ongoing in Ukraine, stories about our history are becoming a form of resistance. They provide context and reveal the depth of our trauma. We believe that art can spark empathy, inspire action, and dismantle prejudice.”
—Kyrylo Beskorovainyi, co-author and co-composer of The Hunters and the Hunted: The Musical
“The adaptation and international presentation of The Hunters and the Hunted: The Musical, supported by House of Europe’s Individual Project Grants, is a perfect example of what this program is all about: fostering creative and professional exchange between Ukrainians and their peers across the EU and the UK. It’s also a compelling artistic initiative that reimagines Ivan Bahrianyi’s novel—a book beloved by many Ukrainians. We wish the team every success and look forward to hearing feedback from both the professional community and general audiences.”
—Tetiana Manziuk, grants and stipends manager at House of Europe
“An urgent, flawlessly organized event. While American readers might find Ukrainian books in translation in bookstores or libraries (though not as many as we’d like), the situation with theatrical productions of Ukrainian works is much bleaker. For Harvard—a place where dozens if not hundreds of events happen daily—to draw such an engaged audience for a musical based on a novel by a Ukrainian author from the early 20th century and centered on a complex historical topic, is a remarkable achievement. I want to applaud translator Anna Halas and co-translators Anton Humaniuk and Kyrylo Beskorovainyi for their skillful work. As a translator myself, I can well imagine how much time and effort went into translating the lyrics, syncing them with the music, and fine-tuning these translations during rehearsals with local actors.”
— Hanna Leliv, translator, HURI’s events coordinator