Ukraine Unbroken | Arcola Theatre

The perpetrators and victims of the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia are thrust into the spotlight in this ambitious collection of short plays, all centring around the spirit and oppression of the Ukrainian people. 

There is an influx of plays at the moment about war, be it reflections on conflicts from the past, such as the Holocaust-focused Here There Are Blueberries, the Palestine-centric A Grain of Sand or this one, exploring a war going on for so long it feels like part of the norm, rather than the extraordinary conditions that are actually underway.

Under the direction of Nicholas Kent, Ukraine Unbroken uses a tight ensemble cast to stage five unique short plays, all themed around the current conflict. Given the current climate, it is a stark and urgent reminder of the war raging today, exposing its human cost.

It is split into two, with the first (Always - a neat piece about a political couple held up as hostages in a hotel room while protests take place outside) and second (Five Day War - a slow, at times banal, look at the Russian-influenced separatists eager to bring Ukraine back under Russian control) under the Act One umbrella of Demonstrations and Invasions. This first of these two is much stronger, with Jonathan Myerson’s hostage script much sharper than the exhausting politicking in David Edgar’s piece. 

Act Two, meanwhile, is the stronger of the halves. Here, the focus is broadly on ‘War’, but more specifically, the impact of regular Ukrainians caught up in it. Natalka Vorozhbyt’s Three Mates is a terrific monologue focusing on perceived male cowardice through a man hiding from conscription. Following that, David Greig’s Wretched Things is a brief look at the sacrifices and morality of war, while Cat Goscovitch’s harrowing Taken spotlights the horrendous abduction of over 20,000 Ukrainian children by Russia. It is a better half simply because of the choices these normal civilians are forced to make in the theatre of war, and are far more in keeping with the play’s central meditation of resilience. 

The nature of the production means it leans heavily on its ensemble to multi-role and bring the pieces to life, which they do with aplomb. Sally Gilles’ frantic mother, desperate to protect her son from the violent crackdown of protestors in Always, is impactful, while Ian Bonar’s exceptional delivery of Andriy’s monologue in Three Mates, wrestling with his guilt at hiding from conscription, and the psychological consequences of conflict, is gripping and deftly delivered.

Meanwhile, Daniel Betts’ Foxtrot injects some much-needed energy into Five Day War, with David Michaels’ fiercely moral Sarge an important figure of adhering to the rules of war, and the Geneva Convention, in the punchy, Wretched Things. 

Furthermore, Jade Williams and Clara Read’s portrayal of Anna and Lilya, mother and daughter respectively, in the devastating Taken is one of the piece’s standout moments. The pair are terrific as mother and daughter forcibly separated by Russian forces, exposing the horrible reality for many Ukrainian parents and their children that is going under the radar amid the chaos of war. It is a terrific piece of theatre, and the pair combine brilliantly to look at the familial chaos and incomprehensible changes this causes. 

Where Ukraine Unbroken is hindered at times, though, is in its pacing. The uneven nature of the stories hinders the storytelling, with its 160-minute runtime elongated by inevitable yet prolonged set changes. While it is necessary to provide context through the first half’s look at some of the conflict’s roots, this is somewhat drier and lacks the human touch of the more intimate second half. In addition, the most interesting stories, such as Taken are rushed through, while the dull Five Day War almost lives up to its name, plodding through repetitive and predictable conversations. It is frustrating, as when the piece burrows down into the impact on the everyday citizens, it is all the more harrowing and engrossing in equal measure. 

Michael Taylor’s set design works well for each performance, often relying on a central point of focus, such as a bed, sofa or chair to draw attention to the action while not diminishing each play’s theatricality. Set changes, which inevitably are a little slow, are accompanied by the terrific Mariia Petrovska, playing the bandura, a Ukrainian instrument, while telling stories from her time growing up amid the longstanding conflict. 

These musical performances are projected around the theatre and are more than just an interlude covering the set changes, serving as an intimate bridge between each story, with Petrovska’s first-hand accounts evoking ideas of an authentic Ukrainian experience more clearly. This was initially accompanied by a video montage of the protests in 2013 against then-President Viktor Yanukovych, which opens the production and foregrounds the rest of the piece effectively.

At its core, Ukraine Unbroken is a piece about resilience and about the human cost of war. A collection of five stories, these are infinitely better when they focus on those caught up in it, rather than those who hope to dictate it.

It is an ambitious and thought-provoking collection of plays that, despite being slightly overstretched, is full of fury and heartfelt emotion that recognises and exclaims the resilience of the Ukrainian people amid unimaginable conditions.

Ukraine Unbroken plays at the Arcola Theatre until 28th March - tickets and more information can be found here.

★★★★☆ (4*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Tristram Kenton