CITD’s experience over many years has proven that when creative artistic leaders get to know one another, they find ways to engage and collaborate over time. By building substantive relationships based on shared goals and challenges, we expect our project to have a long-term impact on artists and organizations in both countries. LINKAGES: Ukraine was the first new program initiated by CITD following the death of Philip Arnoult in June 2024. Within the first year of its existence it had already involved 5 different theaters, a festival in Poland, and brought together 26 Ukrainian and American writers. 

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​So far we have evolved two distinct kinds of programs, the first being in-depth, intimate Zoom conversations in carefully curated pods of three to four participants, the other being collaborations among theatres that exchange contemporary dramatic texts and present them in publicly performed readings. The former give artists an opportunity to share life and professional experiences, and to learn from their counterparts who come from different cultural backgrounds. The latter pair Ukrainian writers with American theaters, and American writers with Ukrainian theaters, giving all of them something CITD values at least as much as anything else - the freedom to create their own work as they see fit. ​