From www.AdaIcon.com

For three weeks this April, Ukrainian theater artist Ganna Turlo is sharing her vision, voice and lived experience with Ohio Northern University students as they prepare for the April 26-27 production of the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings project.

As the guest director for the 16th International Play Festival, Turlo seeks to humanize the realities of war for the ONU actors and stage crew. Yet even as she guides their artistic journeys, her heart remains 5,000 miles away, where her friends are fighting on the front lines to defend Ukraine from the Russian invasion.

Turlo says it wasn’t an easy decision to take on this project, as she feels a deep responsibility to help ONU students—and an American audience—understand what it’s like to be at war.

“I hope to offer students a direct encounter with the living Ukrainian culture—something honest, unfiltered, and deeply human,” she said. “I want to give them the chance to discover something new, and perhaps, to their surprise, to feel how closely the people of Ukraine and the United States are connected—much more than it might seem at first glance.”

Launched after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings project brings together a collection of monologues and dialogues written by contemporary Ukrainian playwrights. Each short play explores themes of identity, resilience, and survival in wartime. The global initiative encourages theaters to stage the works in solidarity with Ukraine, raising both awareness and donations to support the country.

ONU’s two performances—on Saturday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 27, at 2:00 p.m.—will be held in the Stambaugh Theatre at the Freed Center for the Performing Arts. Audience members are invited to contribute to the Cleveland Maidan Association, which partners with Frontline Ukraine for combat medic programs.

“We are an educational institution, it’s all about educating students,” said Joan Robbins, dramaturge and associate professor of theater arts. “Any culture we dip our toes into, we do for the purpose of greater awareness and empathy. Who are the Ukrainian people? What do they care about? What are they fighting for? What are they experiencing?”

The Ohio Arts Council awarded ONU a $5,000 grant to support the production, reinforcing the importance of cultural exchange.

Returning to the festival’s roots
Robbins noted that featuring Ukraine for this year’s festival was important and appropriate, due to current events and the backstory of ONU’s International Play Festival.

Since its founding in 2003, the festival has produced new plays and commissioned new works and translations from countries and cultures across the world.

 “The festival’s purpose is to provide an intercultural experience for our patrons, as well as our students and staff,” she explained.

The festival’s founder—Nils Riess—enjoyed strong ties to Eastern Europe. His parents fled Estonia after World War II and he was born in a displaced persons camp. After Estonia obtained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Riess played a large role in nurturing the Estonia theater scene as it emerged from Soviet oppression.

Upon his retirement from ONU in 2013, Riess handed the festival’s reins to Robbins. A beloved professor emeritus of theater, Riess passed away in November 2023. To honor him, Robbins wanted to return the festival to its roots.

“Of course, you can’t think about Eastern Europe right now without thinking about Ukraine,” she said. “I think it is so important for those voices to be heard.”

The guest director
The Worldwide Ukrainian Play Festival project put Robbins in touch with Turlo, a respected Ukrainian theater director, to serve as the festival’s guest artist. Turlo is currently a refugee living in Prague.

In addition to directing the play and conducting master classes, Turlo will be visiting non-theater classes during her time on ONU’s campus to talk to students about the war and her personal experiences. She will also participate in a Q&A with the audience after the play’s Sunday matinee performance.

Additionally, Turlo has brought to Ada a series of photographs that portray the stark contrast between Ukrainian theaters and theater professionals before the war—and now. The images will be on display in the entrance to the Stambaugh Theatre for audience member to view before the performances.

The production’s focus
From the collection of works in the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Reading project, Turlo and Robbins selected five short plays for ONU’s production, each features the war from a different lived experience.

Their goal is to give the audience a glimpse of Ukraine from the human side.

“Most American have seen something about Ukraine in the news—images of destruction, statistics, bold headlines,” said Turlo. “But I want them to understand that behind each of those headlines are real people, with names, families, daily struggles, and moments of joy. People who, even amid the horrors of war, continue to live, joke, love, and fight—not only for survival, but for dignity for each other.”

She added that she’s most looking forward to the audience discussion after the Sunday matinee performance.

“Theater, at its core, is a dialogue,” Turlo explained. “And I am deeply curious to see how our message will echo in the hearts of those watching.”

Made possible in part by an investment of public funds from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically.