We sat down with Josephine Burton, theatre director, playwright, dramaturg, and Artistic Director of Dash Arts. Burton is the director of the world premiere of The Reckoning, a vivid and powerful new play about war, survival, and the fragile trust between those who uncovered the truth and those who most live it.
The Reckoning draws from verified witness testimonies of the war in Ukraine. What were some of the biggest challenges and responsibilities you faced as a co-writer and director in shaping these real stories into a theatrical form?
Working with real testimonies is a privilege and a huge responsibility. These are not just stories—they’re lived experiences of people who have endured immense trauma. Anastasiia and I felt a deep duty to be truthful, sensitive, and respectful in how we brought them to the stage. One of the hardest things was selecting what to include and what to leave out—so much was powerful, but we had to shape something dramatically coherent. Another challenge was emotional: reading, absorbing, and then re-telling these accounts took a toll, which is why we worked with a brilliant therapist to help us process what we were reading. Theatre can’t recreate war, but it can create empathy—and we held on to that as our guiding light.
The production includes live cooking on stage alongside movement and music. What inspired this multi-sensory approach, and how does it enhance the audience’s emotional connection to the characters?
The stories we’re sharing are heavy and sometimes harrowing, and theatre needs balance—light with dark, warmth with grief. Food, music and movement bring in that contrast. They allow us to connect on a more instinctive, human level. The smell of fresh dill, some lyrical music, the touch of a hand—all these help the audience stay present. We’re not just telling a story, we’re inviting people into a lived space. Food in particular holds such power—it brings comfort, memory and home. It helps us to sit with the difficult truths on stage without shutting down.
You’ve directed and developed over 80 cross-artform productions. How does The Reckoning reflect your broader artistic vision for Dash Arts and its mission to “bridge cultures, communities and languages”?
The Reckoning is probably one of the clearest expressions of Dash’s mission—bringing people, stories, and artforms together across borders. We’re telling a Ukrainian story on a London stage, in two languages, through a mix of documentary, fiction, food and music. It’s both intimate and international. The work we do at Dash has always been about building empathy and breaking down barriers. I think if we can create moments on stage that feel deeply human—whether someone’s from Kyiv or Kent—then we’re doing our job. This show, in that sense, weaves together many threads from the past 20 years.
The journalist in The Reckoning is both observer and participant. How did you and Anastasiia Kosodii navigate the power dynamics between those who witness and those who testify?
That relationship was at the heart of our writing process. As we spoke to the journalists involved in The Reckoning Project, we realised they weren’t just note-takers. They created a space—a kind of sanctuary—for people to share their stories. And in doing so, they were profoundly affected too. We wanted to reflect that complexity. The journalist in our play doesn’t just gather stories; she carries them. There’s a quiet power shift when someone chooses to tell their truth, and we wanted to honour that. It’s not a one-way exchange—it’s a meeting of lives.
Each performance ends with Food for Thought, a dialogue featuring leading voices from law, journalism, and human rights. How did you envision the role of these reflections in shaping public understanding beyond the theatre?
The stories we share don’t end with the curtain. They continue in the world. Food for Thought is a way to acknowledge that. Rather than ending on applause, we shift into conversation—gently, intentionally. We’ve invited brilliant guests—journalists, lawyers, cooks, aid workers—people who are living these questions. It’s not about lecturing the audience; it’s about giving space for reflection and connection. If people walk away thinking a little differently, feeling a bit more engaged, or even just having a conversation on the way home, then we’ve succeeded.
As Dash Arts celebrates 20 years, The Reckoning feels like a culmination of its values – political, poetic, and deeply human. What does this piece mean to you personally at this moment in Dash’s journey?
This piece brings together so much of what I care about, and Dash has focused on – telling untold stories, creating space for empathy, and using theatre as a bridge between worlds. The Reckoning is political, yes, but it’s also full of intimacy and humanity. That’s what Dash has always aimed for. To make work that stirs something deep and real. I feel incredibly proud—and humbled—that this is the project we’re sharing as we mark 20 years. It feels like both a culmination and a beginning.
Grab your tickets for The Reckoning from Thursdsay May 29 to Saturday June 28 at Arcola Theatre here.