We sat down for a quick chat with Katia Haddad, the writer of Mariupol, to chat about the bittersweet love story heading to Pleasance Courtyard Beneath at Edinburgh Fringe this August. For tickets go to https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/mariupol.
1.Tell us about the show and how it came about?
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has affected me deeply. Having personal connections to both countries and living blissfully in the UK for the past 30 years, it was extremely painful and hard to accept. I felt that as a writer, I needed to do something. I needed to write a play. I came across John Retallack’s playwriting course in Oxford, and after an interview and sending a sample of my work, I got accepted. John was encouraging and supportive. He must have seen my pain. He helped me to find my voice and confidence as a playwright. I wrote MARIUPOL in my first year of the course. A huge personal and professional highlight was a staged reading of the play as part of Oxford Platforms, in front of a theatre audience. A truly unforgettable moment.
2. The story follows a couple over 30 years through peace and war. Why did you choose a love story to tell this bigger history?
War is the most unnatural state of humanity. So said Tolstoy: he went to war, returned and wrote War and Peace. Love is the universal glue that holds humanity together. It always wins in the end. Love is the very essence of life! We never forget people we’ve been in love with, even in our childhood or our youth. We carry this invisible connection to them throughout our lives. So, it makes it a universal medium through which every story can be told. When we love, we’re the most connected to the world and to ourselves. Parental love, by which Galina and Steve are driven in Act 3 (war), is the most natural kind of love. Love makes us better versions of ourselves.
3. The characters come from both Russian and Ukrainian backgrounds. How did you handle writing about such a sensitive subject?
By telling the truth about myself. I spent many summers in Mariupol in my youth. I was in love with a very charismatic Ukrainian navy officer. We had the same taste in music, and underneath his macho persona, he was quite a romantic. He was funny, too. I haven’t seen him since 1992, and I’ve never heard from him since, but the war made me think of him, and everybody I knew in Mariupol every day. The play is an imaginary scenario of “what if?” Everything that happens to Steve and Galina after 1992 is very plausible. Maybe her finding him at the bombed Azovstal bunker is a bit less so, and despite factual realities (which I checked with the survivors of the siege), the play is a work of fiction. In reality, in 2022, it would be more plausible for Steve and Galina to speak on the phone, as for now they’re forever divided by war. But that wouldn’t make good theatre. I needed them to meet face to face for the last time.
4. What was it like working with both John and Guy Retallack on the show? Did they bring different elements to it?
John and Guy are the “tween brothers separated by 14 years” – in their own words. They share love and devotion to the theatre and a sense of humour. And they love to comment on each other’s shirts! They worked together on many projects, with Guy usually taking over from John as an assistant director. But the last time it happened was 20 years ago, when they both worked on John’s award-winning play Hannah and Hanna. So, I feel very privileged that MARIUPOL brings the brothers to collaborate again. They have different styles, with John being more about the text and precision (he’s a playwright himself), and Guy is more about working with the actors and trying different things with them. And his background is in musicals! So, Edinburgh will see a slightly different version of MARIUPOL to the one we had at The Cockpit. Not a musical though. And I’m very excited to see it!
5. What’s your favourite memory of holidaying in Mariupol when you were younger?
It was a hot and sticky night in our cabin on Belosaraika (the sandbank outside Mariupol where we were usually staying, featured in the play), and after having a few vodka shots with my friends I decided to go and sleep on the beach. I dragged my single mattress across the sand and settled by the shore. My local friends thought that I was crazy, but I was inspired by a scene from Point Break, a 1991 Keanu Reeves surfing movie. To catch a perfect wave at dawn, the surfers slept on the beach around the campfire. It was so romantic in my mind, but I struggled to persuade anyone to join me. I had a bit to drink, so falling asleep came very easily. I woke up at dawn alright, teeth shattering from the cool damp air, finding the local fishermen standing around me and laughing their heads off at the sight of me and my bed mattress. My clothes were cold and damp, and my mattress became very heavy. I remember dragging it back to the cabin and it felt so much heavier than the night before. I provided some good quality entertainment for the fishermen. I didn’t like Keanu very much at that moment! Luckily, my friends were asleep, and I didn’t tell them about my shameful retreat.
Another memory would be walking to the end of the sandbank ( “dzendzik” – as the locals call it) with the real life Steve.
6. What’s your favourite line in the show?
“Life is the best thing ever!”
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