This commentary is by Katherine Bielawa Stamper of Burlington, a writer and educator who’s in the 2022-23 Engaging Eurasia Teaching Fellow Program at Harvard. She recently returned from volunteering with Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
“I slept in the metro the second night of the invasion,” Nata Vainilovych remembered. “It made me ill to be there, all those people and pets, frightened and tired. I returned home. I slept in street clothes for the first couple of months, ready to run (for shelter) at any time. I met with relatives living in the metro. They made tea. We sat on their mattress and talked. It felt so unreal.”
Nata is a Playback Theater facilitator, actor and trainer living in Kyiv, Ukraine. Playback is a form of improvisational theater in which actors act out personal stories told by audience members. Actors honor storytellers’ lived experiences, evoking affirmation, acceptance and, sometimes, even resolution.
Nata created the “On Guard” (“Na Varti”) Playback Theater Company in Kyiv just after Russia’s invasion Feb. 24. Many actors fled to safety as refugees or took up arms to defend their country. Nata remains in Kyiv with her grandmother, who she did not want to leave behind.
“Our theater troupe performed Playback for people living in the metro,” Nata said. “Our first performance was in March. Audience members shared stories of places left behind in search of safety. They spoke of ‘sharp’ (sensitive) things, trusting us to be gentle with their painful experiences. Children said they missed their fathers. A little boy living in the metro called us ‘Humans from the Upper World.’”
“I appreciate the inclusiveness of this form of theater,” Nata said. “I’ve worked with children; people experiencing physical, visual and auditory disabilities; Romany and other minority groups; and the LGBTQ community. Since the war started, I’ve begun working with IDPs (internally displaced persons) from Mariupol, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipro and Kherson who fled to Kyiv.
“So many people left my city (Kyiv) after the invasion,” Nata said. “The streets were empty. Those of us who remained were afraid. We stayed in our homes. Getting food was risky and a bit like hunting for our milk, bread and vegetables. IDPs began arriving from eastern territories seized by Russia. I needed to help them find community in this new place.
“I thought, ‘I live here. You live here now. I want to help you adapt as you bring your own stories to this place in which we both now live.’
“One woman from Mariupol told a story of a special Treasure Box for her personal mementos,” Nata said. “She carried that box to Kyiv. Her apartment key was inside; her apartment building was destroyed by a rocket.
“If an audience member mentions they are from Mariupol, we ask, ‘Is anyone else here from Mariupol?’ and you see hands raise. You sense the storyteller’s affirmation, that flicker in their eyes as they realize they are not alone, that others share their experience of displacement. They share stories from their past, connecting them to their present, building a bridge to their future. You see audience members sharing contact information with each other when performances end. They are connecting and supporting each other.
“If we are performing and the air raid ‘warning sirens’ go off, indicating a possible threat, we tell the audience they can choose to go to a shelter,” Nata said. “We continue to perform for those who remain. If we are performing and ‘imminent threat’ sirens go off, we too enter shelter until it is safe to emerge and continue our performance.
“This work reminds me that people just want to live their lives. They want to work. They want to raise families.”
Nata and her troupe have performed in the metro, on sidewalks, in basements and are returning, tentatively, to traditional theater spaces, as the war continues. They use their art to help audience members process their trauma right there, in the moment. So many people left; Nata remains, creating theater amid risk.
“I witnessed a fireball 100 meters from my kitchen window,” Nata said. “We live in risk. We do art in risk. I want to have the right to my Ukrainian identity.”
Nata has a message to The Deciders, the politicians of our world: “One minute spent thinking about how and whether to help Ukraine is one more Ukrainian life lost. We are fighting the Russian invaders. We are protecting our land.
“We appreciate the support from the United States and Europe and, still, it is not enough. So many Ukrainian treasures have been destroyed. So many innocent people have died. This should not be happening in the 21st century.
“Russia is an imperialist country trying to make Ukraine a ‘colony.’ Even though there is a war, people still need art. People still need connection. We continue to develop our culture. That is what keeps us going.”
