Ukrainian Folk Theater of Finland was founded in November 2014 in Helsinki by Ukrainian Association in Finland joined with Finnish actor and director of Ukrainian origin Igor Frei, who became the artistic director and chief director of the theater.
The cast of the theater, which is more than 30 persons, is completely amateur, but the directors, choirmasters, choreographers, costume designer and translators are professionals in their fields.
The theater premiere - "Diaries of the Maidan" (N. Vorozhbyt) – took place in February 2015, and was a great success, not only among Ukrainian community living in Finland, but also among Finnish audience. From this year, the theater starts its active touring. The actors of Ukrainian Folk Theater of Finland are touring not only in Finland, but also in other countries of Northern Europe and the Baltics, perform in International theater festivals.
For example, the performance "ZONE", based on P. Arie's play "At the Beginning and in the End of Times" won two international theater festivals last year and this year: International Theater Festival "East-West in Krakow" (Poland) in 2019 and International Theater Festival "Teatr.net" in Kyiv (Ukraine) in 2020.
Annually, the theater presents its audience a new performance, surprising with the range of genres and themes of plays: from comedies and farces to tragedies and dramas, from classical and modern works to modern interpretations of world classics.
We can safely recognize Ukrainian Folk Theater of Finland not only a real Ukrainian pearl abroad but part of the diverse theatrical life of Finland itself, also it is the theater that combines the best traditions of both Ukrainian and Finnish amateur theaters.
In 2021, the theater offers to the Finnish spectators the tragicomedy "Zone" based on P. Arie's play "At the Beginning and the End of Time" and with this play goes on a tour to the cities and towns of Finland.
"Zone" is a play about a strange family living in an abandoned small village in a 30-km exclusion zone around Chernobyl nuclear power station. A Herbalist, 86-year-old eccentric and charming Baba Prisya, whose difficult life experience is perfectly intertown with childhood spontaneity and bad habits, her daughter Slava, who is tired of life problems and whose happiest memory is a Soviet childhood and a foolish grandson Vovchyk, comfortably settled down in the wilderness, without electricity, shops and other benefits of civilization.
Everything here is run by Baba Prisya, who survived the famine, the Second World War, and now experiences the Chernobyl disaster. Old Baba Prisya is not just a village granny. She is a treasury of stories about mermaids and bizarre creatures, who knows the language of forest nymphs. She is the memory of several epochs, representatives of which survived the war and famine and at the same time learned to live, without losing their sense of humor.
It might seem that this strange family is securely protected from aggressive external influences by the deaf border of the contaminated radiation zone. However outside appear forces that barge into the hermits’ life. The family is forced to protect their small world from the big society: from the precinct, who always tries to evict them, from "hunters", who shoot animals for fun. Waiting for help is senseless. People should not be in the exclusion zone, they are outlawed, therefore, they do not exist….
This story will definitely teach many useful lessons for everyone. We hope that this performance will arise both admiration and dramatic emotions, moreover present a lot of unforgettable impressions to all connoisseurs of high-quality and interesting performances. Welcome!
Directed by Igor Frey
Actors and Performers:
BABA PRISYA - Natalka Shevchuk
SLAVA - Olena Skorokhod
VOVCHYK - Gennady Naumov
FATHER - Denis Pertsev
PRECINCT - Kostyantyn Lazepka
Poems of Yuri Izdrik, Pavel Arie and Vlad Gryzun are performed by Ostap Stupka and Igor Frey.
The play is performed in Ukrainian with Finnish subtitles.
Warning! Age restrictions 18+
Running time 2.5 hours. The play is performed with one intermission.