Hanover HS Footlighters winter play is the North American premiere of a modern Ukrainian play with music called "I'm fine"
Written by Nina Zakhozhenko , directed by Amanda Rafuse, with original music by Tommy Crawford,(with his music direction of a live teen rock band on stage featuring 4 students, with Tessa Cullen as their lead).
It's a play about 4 teen friends in Bucha who have to face the invasion of Ukraine and everything that follows. Their experiences are real and riveting. Youth and adults who read the play spoke about how true it was to what they had to live through in Ukraine. This play was translated into English right here in the Upper Valley, we worked on it this fall ("we" are students from Ukraine, one from HHS and a couple from Dartmouth, and I). We had invaluable help in selecting the play from Lada Kolomiets, and in helping us edit the translation from Victoria Somoff, both teach at Dartmouth and also from a Ukrainian language teacher and Upper Valley community member Victoria Levin.
footlighters.ludus.com is where you could get your tickets. Please help us spread the word!
We will have free community engagement events after each performance. We will be fundraising for various causes in Ukraine. Part of the ticket sales funds will be sent to Ukraine and will support the important work of playwriting in war-torn Ukraine.
The play is about teens ( but really all of us) and is suitable for teens and anyone who has ever been one. More info on the ticket website.
Hope to see you there. Thank you!
Yuliya Ballou
P.S. We sincerely hope that staging this play almost 2 years after the war started is not only going to remind folks of the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine, but will also move people to fundraise and donate to other war-torn places around the world...