Eleven Ukrainian Questions About the Art of Performance

2015 June Edmond Chibeau, Playwright

1) What is the state of theatre in Ukraine in the second decade of the 21^st Century? 

2) Will it remain an independent country?

3) Will theatre remain independent?

4) Does theatre respond to the important political issues of these years, issues that are pivotal for not only the art, politics, and health of the Ukraine, but also for the whole region?

5) In 1821 the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley said that, “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”  In what way will the, poets, playwrights, and filmmakers set the standard for the Ukrainian future?

6) I wonder about Theatre in Ukraine.  My grand parents came to USA from Belarus, Poland, Russia, France in 1907.  What would I be if they had remained in Europe?

7) Is the Les Kurbas in the avant garde of the cultural transformation of Ukraine?

8) In what way can Ukraine be said to be “setting the stage” for performance studies in the 21^st Century?

9) What is the relationship between food and literature?

10) My performance writing has been influenced by the food at Kiev.  Kiev was a restaurant in the Lower East Side of New York where we would go late at night for hearty food.  It is closed now. Where will playwrights go now for inspirational food?

11) There is a restaurant called Kiev in Brooklyn, does it inspire writers with good food?
                                             (I would like to hear from people in Ukraine about any  or all of this. EC)