Hunter College’s Office of the Arts will host an event with six Ukrainian actresses and their director on “Making Theatre During Wartime” in Ukraine, Executive Director Gregory Mosher announced.
The event will bring together American playwright and director Richard Nelson and the cast of his new play, When the Hurlyburly’s Done. The play was staged last winter at the Kyiv Academic Drama Theater on Podil and will run (in Ukrainian with English supertitles) from September 16 to 21 at Manhattan’s Public Theater. Hunter’s event at the Loewe Theater on September 18 at 11:30 am will take place in the middle of the New York run.
“It should be a fascinating discussion about making theater under the duress of warfare and a poignant way to begin the theatre season,” Mosher said. Nelson said that the 11 weeks he spent in Kyiv last winter were a profound gift.
“It reminded me that what I have done all my life — make theater — can have and does have an importance in society and culture,” he said. “I began with the ambition to write a play about six young women putting on a play in the middle of a war, to be performed by six young women putting on my play in the middle of a war. I ended up being inspired daily by my work with my young actresses — some as young as 21! Some have lived in war for half their lives. Our play and this war are entwined — which, of course, makes it all very human.”
The event exemplifies Hunter’s commitment to being a high-impact training ground for young artists and an anchor institution for the arts in New York City. The conversation will include the six Ukrainian actresses Yulia Brusentseva, Kateryna Chikina, Mariia Demenko, Natalka Kobizka, Olena Korzeniuk, and Maria Kos; the translator of the play, Yulia Sosnovska; and the Ukrainian stage manager, Milada Samoilova.
About the Office of the Arts
Based in Room 307 of the Baker Theatre Building, the Office of the Arts reflects President Nancy Cantor’s vision that Hunter be an anchor institution for the community, fulfilling the mission of public education as an engine of social mobility and economic advancement. Almost nine out of 10 Hunter students are graduates of New York City public schools.
At the Office of the Arts, Director Mosher works closely with Hunter’s academic administration to foster community partnerships, internships, and career placements and to hold performances, screenings, and other creative programming. A two-time Tony Award-winning producer and director, Mosher headed Hunter’s Theater Department from 2017 to 2022 and serves as Patty and Jay Baker Professor of Theatre. He also serves as special adviser for the arts to Cantor, consulting with the President’s Office on strategic direction and fundraising.
The Office of the Arts is funded by a generous gift from Dame Susie Sainsbury.
