EDUCATIONAL THEATRE
Our Teen Drama Lab, taught by internationally acclaimed professional actors and teaching artists of the Lost & Found Project, is a place where aspiring young teenage actors and young adults can develop their dramatic skills through a laboratory journey which includes theatrical forms and methodologies such as etudes, improv, theater exercises, voice and movement work. Using the verbatim theatre technique they explore their identity through family history research and personal storytelling. The programs engage teens, young adults, several immigrant and refugee communities in New York addressing pressing issues in the experience of the participants. Each course culminates in a performance at an NYC theatre, where the students present their individually developed pieces.
OUR LATEST PRODUCTION
IN THROUGH THE DOORWAY OUT
theater told verbatim by teens from Ukraine
DATES
May 30 7:30PM May 31 7:30PM June 1 3:00PM
@ Teatro Circulo 64 East 4th Street New York NY
Directed by Anya Zicer & Dima Koan
Music director Masha Vasilevskaya Composer Fedor Zhuravlev
IN THROUGH THE DOORWAY OUT is the second original production by the TUT (Teens Ukraine Theatre) laboratory for Ukrainian teens and young adults refugees. This production is a documentary verbatim theater piece centered on the personal stories and struggles of a group of 14 young adults who were all forced to leave Ukraine at the beginning of the Russian full scale invasion. As the war still goes on, these young individuals find themselves in New York city still searching for answers in their self identification as new versions of themselves, unable to go back or fully assimilate in the new space.
IN THROUGH THE DOORWAY OUT is a reflection of their continuous exploration of who they are after the sold out run of the first show ARE WE THERE YET, now focusing on the topics of continuation and their growth from a place of loss and the desire to go forward despite the difficult circumstances they faced at the beginning of their migration to New York.
We live in a multiple choice world, in which we have endless possibilities and doors to which we can’t always find the keys or know how to access them, doors into our dreams, our past, doors which we are forced to open despite our desires. How do we know which one to open? What exactly is waiting behind these doors? Is it just a transition that separates us from the before and after? Is there a manual we can turn to to find the answers? The essence is in not losing the key and being able to be the key holder to your own doors.
Performed & written by: Alex Atamas, Danylo Boiko, Esther Dzhaparidze, Volodymyr-Leon Grytsak, Eleonora Gudyma, Anna Hamora, Velislava Kuzmenko, Alina Malook, Mariia Mohylska, Anastasia Panchenko, Mariia Petrenko, Kateryna Slynchenko, Serhii Tverdokhlib, Daniel Yaburov
IN THROUGH THE DOORWAY OUR is a production of the TUT (Teens Ukraine Theatre) initiative for Marks JCH refugee teens from Ukraine. Produced by Lost & Found Project.
In collaboration with Teatro Circuo and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. In partnership with the Marks JCH of Bensonhurst and generously funded by the Bilokin Initiative.
In affiliation with The Ukrainian Worldwide Readings Project.
A portion of the ticket proceeds will be donated towards humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
Artwork by Mikael Siirilä Graphic design by Daniel Yaburov
ARE WE THERE YET
theatre told verbatim by Ukrainian
teen refugees
Directed by Anya Zicer & Dima Koan
Composed by Mariya Vasilevskaya
ARE WE THERE YET is a multidisciplinary production derived from personal stories of ten teenagers from Ukraine; displaced and uprooted by war. Some of their families are still in Ukraine beneath the bombs. They feel the dissonance while stuck in a vacuum wanting to go back to the fateful day of February 23rd or to find themselves after the war ends, so they can return home. But where is home, and how can they shelter themselves from this horrific reality? When will the war end? Are we there yet? These questions are just the tip of the iceberg as they relive their traumas, reflecting the experience of thousands of refugees and echoing the voices of those who are still in Ukraine.
This production draws surrealistic and yet vivid images of life broken by the war. Millions of people have left their homes fleeing from bombs…leaving behind broken objects and homes, but their memories continue living, traveling along with them. The stories in the production echo through teens’ personal prism – the impact of the invasion, and what is happening in its aftermath.
Teen actors:
Anastasia Panchenko, Danylo Boiko, Kateryna Slynchenko, Petro Politaiev, Eleonora Gudyma, Odnokol Kamila, Volodymyr-Leon Grytsak, Rita Krukovskaya, Yehor Popovych, Alex Atamas
ARE WE THERE YET premiered to a sold out audience in March 2023 at New York Theatre Workshop and was back by popular demand presented at JCC Manhattan.
ARE WE THERE YET is a production of the TUT (Teens Ukraine Theatre) initiative for Marks JCH refugee teens from Ukraine.
Sponsored and presented by Marks JCH of Bensonhurst
Produced by Lost & Found Project
Hosted by New York Theatre Workshop
Map by Rita Krukovskaya
Poster design by Natasha Mileshina