Stage reading by Natalia Blok
”Skin Deep” translation: Lucian Branea
”Our Children” translation: Raluca Rădulescu
with: Cătălina Bălălău, Nora Covali, Loredana Grigoriu, Smaranda Postelnicu, Paul-Ovidiu Cosovanu
Natalia Blok’s two plays are stark records of states, attitudes, and actions of a female character, caught especially in the role of mother, who is trying to overcome the traumas of war together with her children.
While Our Children is an autobiographical text about the way in which the children of a family cope with the challenges of life in Russian-occupied Kherson, in Skin Deep, the war becomes a virus that infests to an equal extent everyday life and the body. What is the solution to cure such a pandemic?
Natalia Blok is an internationally known dramatist, scriptwriter, and director, one of the most powerful voices of contemporary Ukrainian culture. Her plays enjoy success both in Ukraine and abroad and have repeatedly been selected at prestigious national and international competitions: Week of Current Play, Batumi Monoplay Festival, UA Drama. They have been translated into Polish, Georgian, German, and Russian. She is the founder of the Playwrights’ Theatre in Kyiv and multiple winner of the Ukraine State Film Agency pitching competition.