LINKAGES: Ukraine

About the project

Inspired by the successful models of CITD's LINKAGES programs in Poland and Hungary, LINKAGES: Ukraine is an ongoing initiative fostering enduring connections between US and Ukrainian playwrights. Our program will bring together a diverse cohort of artists from both nations, initiating their collaboration through intimate Zoom conversations organized into curated pods of three to four artists. These virtual exchanges will set the stage for future in-person meetings, allowing participants to immerse themselves in each other's artistic worlds and engage in theatre festivals and workshops.

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 in both countries.

ABOUT

LINKAGES: Ukraine, Theatrical Windows Kharkiv - Chattanooga

Due to current travel restrictions resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, for the inaugural year of LINKAGES: Ukraine, instead of traveling for in-person meetings, four playwrights from our cohort will participate in a script exchange between Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga in Tennessee and a joint team from Theatre na Zhukakh and Kvitka Theater (Kharkiv Academic Drama Theater) in Kharkiv, a city currently under intense missile fire.

Short plays by US Playwrights Mark Cornell, Garry Lee Posey, and Judy Klass will be translated into Ukrainian and staged by Theatre na Zhukakh in live readings scheduled for the period of July 29 to August 5 (exact date TBD). Simultaneously, Ukrainian playwrights Dmytro Ternoviy and Anna Halas will have full-length works performed in recorded, staged readings by Ensemble Theatre in the early fall of 2024. Simultaneously to these events, playwrights will engage in intimate Zoom discussions. Ternoviy and Halas will be featured in the podcast Lights Up to discuss their creative processes and perspectives.