December 2020....

I made a 15 minute video which went viral in Belarus. It was made in direct response to the rigged elections that have kept the dictator Lugashenko in power, the man who has allowed Putin to park nuclear weapons in Belarus, as well as providing him with direct access to Ukraine. A few months after those elections, I was asked by David Wybrow, of the Cockpit Theatre, to run a series of performed zoom plays during the lockdown of 2021.  I began with Andrei Kureichik’s play, Insulted Belarus, written as violence exploded on the streets of his country.

 A year later, in February 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the translator of Andrei’s play, John Freedman, put out a request for theatres across the world to stage Ukrainian plays by way of protest. I was asked to take the role of the unnamed woman in Pussycat in Memory of Darkness, a one-woman show, which I’ve subsequently performed in Ukraine (twice), the US, Germany and Portugal. 

The final question at the Q&A following one of the performances in Kyiv in December ’22 was “Why do you care...?”  The answer to that question is quite complex.

My association with Ukraine hasn't been a very long one, but it's been very profound.  Its seeds lie in my family history.  My mother was recruited into the official Norwegian resistance organisation, Milorg, in 1940.  Her job involved establishing networks, so when her cell was penetrated she was told she had to escape or risk being shot.  That's what brought her here to London in 1944, 80 years ago.  I don't think the anger and outrage she felt in 1940 ever left her.

The lesson my mother’s bravery taught me was that you can’t ignore tyranny and hope it’ll go away.

We’ve been very fortunate here in western Europe.  For us, the Second World War ended in 1945.  We’ve got used to feeling safe.  Well, we’re not safe any more.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

WHO SAID THEATRE CAN’T MAKE A DIFFERENCE? 

The impact of Pussycat in Memory of Darkness in 2023 was so powerful that a new festival (Festival for Ukraine) was established in Germany as a result.  The Mayor of Wiesbaden, as Patron of the festival,  declared the play had radically changed his attitude to the war.

 The impact of Inna Goncharova’s play, The Trumpeter (trans. John Farndon), which opened the new festival in Feb ’24, was as great as that of Pussycat.  Following a run at The Finborough Theatre in London in July and August of this year , we plan to tour it, both abroad and in the UK.  Our objective is to keep the war in the forefront of people’s minds. This is the reason for doing these plays - they’re for Ukraine.

Both my trips to Ukraine were funded through the generosity of three donors.  This money paid for my travel from London to Ukraine and back, my hotel stay and the filming we were able to do whilst there.  We plan to expand the film by running a narrative under it and by making further visits to Borodyanka and Bucha, visited first in December ’22. And now, this summer, our run at The Finborough has only been made possible through the great generosity of the charity Pritimka, set up by Larissa Itina and her husband, Misha, and Steven Bailey of The Rotary Club of Wiesbaden - as well as through the generosity of individual donors in the UK.  We are indebted to them all.

  I decided back in 2022 that I would take Pussycat in Memory of Darkness, Neda Nezhdana’s play, wherever I could, to remind audiences that the Ukrainians are fighting to preserve their freedom.  Any donation you are able to make will help us bring Pussycat in Memory of Darkness - and now Inna Goncharova’s play, The Trumpeter - to the attention of audiences both here and abroad.  Who says theatre can’t make a difference?  It’s led to a new festival in Germany.

If you’re able to contribute, or you know of someone who could, please do help us.  Every pound helps.  This is from the heart - we’re fighting in the only way we can.  This is not about us - it’s about Ukraine.

If Putin wins in Ukraine, he won’t be satisfied.  He and Patriarch Kirill have declared this to be a Holy War.  No country bordering Russia is safe and those in America - who think their country is untouched by Europe’s problems - will find the US position as world leader gone.  An unholy trinity of China, Russia and Iran - which executed 832 people last year alone for disagreeing with the compulsory wearing of the hijab - will change the balance of power.  And all this is happening because we don’t learn from history.  We’ve been here before, in the 1930s. We are replaying Munich all over again.

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How you can help

I went to Ukraine first in December ’22. I decided then that I would take Pussycat in Memory of Darkness, Neda’s play, wherever I could, to remind audiences that the Ukrainians are fighting to preserve their freedom. Any donation you feel able to make will help me bring Pussycat in Memory of Darkness and Inna Goncharova’s The Trumpeter (Germany February 2024 and London July ‘24), to the attention of audiences both here and abroad.  Whatever you feel you can give will be received with great gratitude and you will, of course, be credited.  These plays are very powerful tools that bring the lives of ordinary Ukrainians into people’s living rooms.  We’re living in terrifying times.  Most of us feel powerless, but we can do something.  A donation, however small, will help bring Ukraine back to people’s attention.

Thank you.  

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