Preview: Chernobyl@30 on tour

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TSF collaboration with Ukraine Theatre Company

marks 30^th Anniversary of

the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident

Chernobyl@30

Monday 26^th – Wednesday 28^th September 2016 - Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne

Thursday 29^th September 2016 - Arts Centre Washington 7.30pm

Friday 30^th September and Saturday 1^st October 2016 - Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Hexham

Northumberland-based, award-winning theatre company Théâtre Sans Frontières presents its latest production, Chernobyl@30, made in collaboration with Ukrainian theatre company Arabesky and which will be touring north east venues in September 2016.

This new collaboration has resulted from an award by the British Council to TSF Joint Artistic Director Sarah Kemp, in autumn 2015, to take part in their Canny Creatives project to develop new creative partnerships between arts organisations in Ukraine and North East England. Sarah visited award-winning Arabesky Theatre in Eastern Ukraine which, founded in 1993, has toured extensively throughout Ukraine, as well as Poland and Armenia.

In 2006, Arabesky made a documentary style theatre production based on events that took place in Ukraine after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. The production interwove film from Chernobyl itself with choreographed scenes based on different characters e.g. the liquidators involved in the clean up operation, the politicians and their actions following the accident, and the many ordinary people affected across the country. Chernobyl@30 revisits Arabesky’s original production and explores new responses to the accident 30 years on, with a particular spotlight on its impact on Northern England. The production features a poem written about the disaster by Linda France (the Northumberland poet) for her son.

The artistic research has involved interviews with people who were affected by the accident at the time and in recent years. There is also additional film of the Chernobyl site today, transformed into a wildlife haven that attracts tourists from around the world. Original film footage and abstract animation serves as a background for the British and Ukrainian artists to explore collaboratively, through text, movement and song, their own aesthetic responses to the realities of life after the accident. Thirty years on, what does the accident mean to us, the planet and our futures? Through this piece of theatre, the audience is encouraged to ask questions such as: Who are the victims? What happens to nature when humans leave? What is the relationship between individual and state? How can art enable us to reimagine and reassess a major world catastrophe?

The production is directed by Svitlana Oleshko (Ukraine), artistic director and founder of Arabesky Theatre, who also directed the original production of Chernobyl. Performing in the production are: John Cobb and Sarah Kemp (UK, TSF), Robert Nicholson (UK, Heaven Eyes by TSF), and Arabesky Theatre performers Natalia Tsymbal and Mykhylo Barbara (Ukraine).

The show lasts about one hour, is performed in English and features video in Ukrainian with English subtitles and is suitable for ages 16+ years.

TSF is grateful to the following for their support: Arts Council England, The British Council, Queen’s Hall Arts, Active Northumberland and Northumberland County Council.

Chernobyl@30 Tour 2016:

Monday 26^th – Wednesday 28^th September, 7.30pm - Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne
Monday 26th Preview: Pay What You Feel RESERVE ONLINE HERE
Tuesday 27th & Wednesday 28th: £7 Full Price/£5 Concession BOOK ONLINE HERE
Venue: Alphabetti Theatre, The Basement, 18 New Bridge Street West, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AW Website: http://www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/

Thursday 29^th September, 7.30pm - Arts Centre Washington 7.30pm
Tickets £8.50 / £6.00 (conc)

Details and tickets: http://www.artscentrewashington.co.uk/production-details.aspx?id=847

Friday 30^th September, 8pm and Saturday 1^st October, 2.30pm & 8pm - Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Hexham.  Tickets: Bitesize £12.50; play only £7.50 

Details and tickets: http://www.queenshall.co.uk/events/chernobyl30