LINKAGES
LINKAGES
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“It is getting harder and harder to shout across the ocean from Ukraine about the war, about our pain. But we are seeking ways to be heard. One way is very effective and fast: theater. Just a few days might pass between the creation of a dramatic text and its theatrical presentation. And then you will briefly find yourself in our shoes... and have an opportunity to understand us. Understanding is the first step to support.”
-Natalka Vorozhbyt, Ukrainian playwright & director
Background
In Ukraine, theatre is not just art as escape—it is culture as defiance.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, it claimed Ukraine had no real language and no distinct culture. Through culture, Ukrainians challenge these assumptions, confronting not only an army but also an imperial narrative that denies their existence.
Every Ukrainian play staged, every script written, every actor stepping onstage to speak Ukrainian pushes back against that denial. A profound cultural sea change is underway, and CITD’s LINKAGES:Ukraine initiative is playing an historic role in these developments.
For years, Ukrainian theater has been cut off from the global dramaturgical landscape by language barriers, limited access to contemporary texts, and funding constraints. This isolation has shaped what could be seen, studied, and produced. Through LINKAGES, that dynamic begins to shift.
About the project
LINKAGES:Ukraine was created precisely for this moment, providing multi-year support for artistic exchanges between Ukrainian and US artists, with the goal of amplifying Ukrainian voices internationally.
Evolving in 2024 out of the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings, within the first year LINKAGES:Ukraine involved 5 different theaters in Ukraine, a festival in Poland, and brought together 26 Ukrainian and American playwrights.
Year one saw deep relationships forged among playwrights in Ukraine and the US over multiple in-depth Zoom conversations. In year two, reciprocal exchanges among key partners like Dmytro Ternovyi at Theatre na Zhukah in Kharkiv and Wayne Maugans at Voyages Theatre in New York City solidified the mission of LINKAGES:Ukraine of building long-term creative partnerships.
An anthology of selected American plays translated into Ukrainian, and performed in the frontline cities of Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro is planned for publication. It will be the first anthology of contemporary American drama published in Ukraine.
All along the way, the growth of this project has been initiated by our Ukrainian partners.
LINKAGES:Ukraine operates two forms of collaboration:
Artist Pods
Small groups of Ukrainian artists and US playwrights meet virtually to discuss artistic process and build relationships for future collaborations, when travel between countries is more possible
Performance Exchange
Ukrainian and American theatres presenting contemporary plays from each other’s countries, in staged readings and, starting in 2026, full productions
2026 Expansion
In 2026, our Ukrainian partners asked to expand this exchange by undertaking a translation of contemporary Americans for major staged readings and full productions.
In addition to mounting full productions in frontline cities where the threat of bombardment remains constant, the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre in Kyiv - Ukraine’s flagship theatre - is planning a multi-day festival dedicated to contemporary plays in the fall of 2026.
The ultimate goal is to mount a full production of a major American work at this storied venue.
Learn more about the expansion
partners
Funders
