A CHICKEN IS NOT A BIRD. UKRAINE IS NOT ABROAD.

A portrait of a life disrupted by war and of the will to endure. A mosaic composed of fragments of the fates of those who have not come into direct contact with the war, yet whose lives are still affected by it, and of those who, willingly or unwillingly, on one side or the other, take part in it. A reality made up of contradictions and absurdities that cannot be judged or evaluated – but also cannot be left unspoken. They are close. More interesting than arguing and refuting opinions is asking how those opinions were formed. In the context of life circumstances and the focus of propaganda that has managed to penetrate them, the attitudes of (almost) every person are understandable, and understanding their motivations can lead to mutual understanding.

Work on the performance began with a journey to southern and eastern Ukraine. Songs and stories were provided by: members of ethnic and religious minorities in Bessarabia (Gagauz, Moldovans, Old Believers), Mrs. Lyuba from the town of Vilkovo, Miss Ira from Tatarbunary, Red Cross volunteers in Mariupol and anonymous refugees from the war zone, sisters Zoja and Katia from the village of Respublika in Donbas, members of the Donbas ensemble Divina, members of the theatre Teatr Pereselenca in Kyiv – refugees from war zones, Mrs. Svitlana and Mr. Serhij from Kyiv – members of the ensemble Drevo and participants in the Maidan, as well as anonymous residents of Odesa, Mariupol, and the villages and small towns of Bessarabia.

Other sources of stories, scenes and images are reports by Ukrainian and Polish journalists who, thanks to their courage and their deep knowledge of the environment and language, were able to penetrate deeply into the essence of the conflict and human destinies.

Directed by: David Zelinka                            Texts and text adaptation: David Zelinka    Translations from and into Ukrainian and Russian: Eliza Paś        

Musical direction: Eliza Paś, Zane Perkone Journey to Ukraine in search of songs and stories: Eliza Paś, David Zelinka                      Collaboration on the preparation of the performance: Karolína Plachá                          Cast: Eliza Paś, Zane Perkone, Veronika Slámová, Radim Klásek, David Zelinka

THE CREATION OF THE PERFORMANCE WAS SUPPORTED BY A GRANT FROM NADACE ŽIVOT UMĚLCE, THANK YOU.