War brings suffering, pain, and humiliation. At the same time, it strips away triviality and pettiness, revealing extraordinary love, compassion, humanity, and hope. The need to speak out and process emotions is immense. As a result of the war, new Ukrainian drama has literally exploded into countless plays—written on the frontlines, in bomb shelters, and in refugee camps.
These are precisely the kinds of texts at the heart of the Creative Europe project TAW (Theatre Against War). Its mission is to bring contemporary Ukrainian drama and theatre to wider audiences in Finland and across Europe. As part of TAW’s own playwriting competition, 68 plays were written. From these, four of Ukraine’s leading theatres selected their texts and created productions.
Twelve Topical Performances
In November, the Ukrainian Drama Festival at the National Theatre’s Maalaamosali will present twelve performances, developed over the past two years through collaboration between Ukrainian, German, and Finnish theatres.
The idea behind TAW—to commission new Ukrainian short plays—could not be more relevant. World events are shifting at an extraordinary pace, especially in war-torn Ukraine. For many playwrights, there may simply be no time to write a grand finale. What matters most is to complete the play and to be heard.
Most of the plays are written for female characters, for the brutal reason that male actors are serving at the front. Almost all of them are semi-documentary, based on real events and real people.
Ukrainian Drama Festival at Maalaamosali, 15–21 November 2025
All performances will be in Ukrainian—except for the multilingual work Warsawa – Kammeroper. English surtitles will be available for all productions, and Teatr Vikart’s performances will also include Finnish subtitles.
Theatres and Performances
Lviv National Mariia Zankovetska Theatre (Ukraine): Oleg Mihaylov The Bird in the Attic (1 h 5 min)
Kharkiv State Academic Puppet Theatre (Ukraine): Oksana Hrytsenko Empire Must Die (1 h 5 min)
Cherkasy Academic Music and Drama Theatre (Ukraine): Iryna Beschetnova, Kateryna Kholod Distance (1 h)
Sumy National Theatre of Drama and Musical Comedy (Ukraine): Oleg Mihaylov The Bird in the Attic (1 h)
Kibbuz Zentrum für Kunst (Germany): Hrygorij Skoworoda Warsawa – Kammeroper (1 h 20 min) and Iryna Beschetnova Monologues of Refugees (1 h)
Teatr Vikart (Finland): Oksana Hrytsenko I Will Return (50 min), Kateryna Kholod Poker with Fate (50 min), Oleg Mihaylov Letters from Ice (1 h 5 min), Artur Sumarokov Captivity (55 min), Natalka Blok I Want to Stop (1 h), and Nina Zakhozhenko Totally Normal (50 min)
Programme
15.11. 17:00 Warsawa – Kammeroper (Kibbuz), 20:00 Totally Normal (Vikart)
17.11. 17:00 Monologues of Refugees (Kibbuz), 20:00 I Will Return (Vikart)
18.11. 17:00 Poker with Fate (Vikart), 20:00 Letters from Ice (Vikart)
19.11. 17:00 Captivity (Vikart), 20:00 I Want to Stop (Vikart)
20.11. 17:00 The Bird in the Attic (Lviv National Mariia Zankovetska Theatre), 20:00 Empire Must Die (Kharkiv State Academic Puppet Theatre)
21.11. 17:00 The Bird in the Attic (Sumy National Theatre of Drama and Musical Comedy), 20:00 Distance (Cherkasy Academic Music and Drama Theatre)