Kyiv × Cape Town: Workshoping contemporary Ukrainian Monodrama

In collaboration with ProEnglish Theatre Kyiv and WEST – World of English Speaking Theatres, Marie Hahne brings the international Solo Play Day Monodrama Festival to Cape Town in the form of a creative workshop.

How do we gain access to a theatrical piece? How do we speak from a perspective different from our own?

In this workshop, we explore the world of monodrama and investigate new ways of approaching and embodying contemporary monologues. Working with exclusive texts by acclaimed Ukrainian playwrights Nina Zakhozhenko and Neda Nezhdana, we will delve into questions of voice, memory, and identity, examining how personal, political and social narratives intersect on stage.

Through practical exercises and discussion, we will explore how to translate experience into performance – how to inhabit someone else’s story or trauma without appropriation, and how theatre can serve as a powerful access point to shared experience.

At the end of the workshop, we will open the doors of The Masque Theatre for a public presentation and discussion, offering insight into the creative process and the discoveries made along the way. The outcomes will also be shared with the international audience through the Solo Play Day platform, connecting local exploration with global exchange.

For questions or inquiries, please contact mhahne1907@gmail.com

Photography:  Gordon Evans