‘“Ukraine is an idea”: A harrowing odyssey through the psyche of a nation that resolutely refuses to die.’
Two days before Ukraine Unbroken debuted at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston, the United States and Israel launched their historic air assault on the Iranian capital, Tehran, codenamed Operation Epic Fury. Within hours, a volley of ballistic missiles had killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and much of his cabinet; Iran had launched indiscriminate retaliatory strikes of its own; global oil prices hit their highest level in three years; and air travel across the Middle East was effectively paralysed. This made the staging of a series of five plays focusing on the war in Ukraine all the more prescient – and chilling.
The production comprises of five independent vignettes directed by Nicolas Kent, each set during Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which began in 2014. All of the plays are tied together by performances from Mariia Petrovska, a Ukrainian singer and bandura player who appears during the set changes. As Petrovska reveals as the evening unfolds, she fled to the UK following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, lending her already ethereal vocals and bandura solos an even more haunting quality.
The first play, Always by Jonathan Myerson, depicts the massacre of protesters during the 2014 Maidan revolution, shown from the confines of a hotel room from which snipers fire upon unarmed demonstrators. The piece provides fascinating context to what may be a lesser-known chapter of modern Ukrainian history and acts as a suitably macabre tone-setter for the rest of the evening.
The second, Five Day War by David Edgar, takes a step back from the visceral peril of Always and instead adopts a more slow-burning, procedural tone. It follows a group of senior Russian politicians summoned to a clandestine meeting in a rural Ukrainian lodge. They soon realise they have been handpicked to become Ukraine’s government-in-waiting; all they need do is wait out the inevitable Russian victory predicted to come in five days. However, as the group begin interviewing one another for cabinet positions, it becomes evident that President Putin’s “special military operation” is not going to plan. What unfolds is an expertly written, Twelve Angry Men-style drama, in which characters are forced to wrestle with their own personal ambition against the most rudimentary tenets of humanity.
The second half of the production begins with Three Mates by Natalka Vorozhbit. Though ostensibly the most sedate of the five plays – essentially the internal monologue of a conscientious objector struggling to fall asleep during an air raid – it ultimately packs the greatest emotional punch. The narrator, inebriated with his own guilt, reflects on the decisions that have led him to his current predicament. He recalls two childhood friends: one of whom managed to escape, and the other who became a grizzled veteran still on the front line, while he remains in a kind of purgatory in Kyiv, paralysed by his own cowardice. The vignette is brilliantly written and heartbreakingly performed by Ian Bonar and Jade Williams, the latter haunting the stage as the memory of the wife who fled to the UK as a refugee. In light of the current state of the world, Three Mates serves as a sobering reminder of the psychological toll warfare takes on those who fight – and those who won’t.
The final two plays round out the production with aplomb. Wretched Things by David Greig concerns three Ukrainian soldiers who, while under heavy siege from incoming Russian artillery, stumble across a gravely wounded North Korean soldier who had been fighting on the Russian side. The moral dilemma of what to do with him drives the remainder of the play, as Russian forces close in on their position. Certainly the most high-octane of the five, Wretched Things is enthralling throughout, with Alexa Moore’s costumes and the waft of real cigarette smoke lending a vivid physicality to the set. Unfortunately, its engaging plot is occasionally blunted by slightly over-explicit dialogue, such as the line: “The Ukrainian eastern front is the world’s seminar room right now.”
Taken by Cat Goscovitch is the final drama of the evening, and it lands with a devastating hammer blow. It tells the story of a mother (Williams) who vows to return her 12-year-old daughter (Clara Read) to her native Mariupol after she is abducted by Russian forces. Once the moving drama concludes, the tragedy is compounded by a projection above the stage revealing the staggering statistic that 20,000 Ukrainian children have been kidnapped by Russian forces since the war began.
All five plays are performed by an ensemble cast of Daniel Betts, Ian Bonar, Sally Giles, David Michaels, Clara Read and Jade Williams. The cast rotate seamlessly between roles, imbuing each character with complexity and humanity they deserve. Although the situation, not just in Ukraine but across the world, feels as bleak in 2026 as at any point in recent memory, Ukraine Unbroken offers a vital reminder that resilience itself can be an act of defiance. As the title suggests, despite the brutality inflicted by four years of war, Ukraine endures, not merely as a territory under siege, but as an idea, a culture and a people who refuse to be erased.
Ukraine Unbroken plays at the Arcola Theatre until 28th March. Tickets are available here.