Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
UNWLA 100
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
6 WWW.UNWLA@UNWLA.ORG “ НAШЕ ЖИТТЯ ”, ГРУДЕНЬ 2011 A N I N TE RV I E W WI TH Y AN A K E SAL A by Olesia Wallo ana Kesala is a young actress, playwright, and director based in Seattl e, Washington. Her extensive training in theater, which includes a BA in Drama from Stanford University as well as studies with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, has prepared her well for her most rece nt writing and performing challenge: to communicate to North American audiences the story of her mother's childhood and youth as a Ukrainian immigrant to the United States. The story took the shape of a solo play, The Ukrainian Dentist's Daughter , which Ya na wrote on the basis of interviews with her mother, Larissa Kesala. In the play, an anxious bride awaits her groom outside the Ukrainian Cathedral in New York on New Year's Eve of 1967. As the minutes and hours go by, with no news and no groom in sight, t he young woman relives the most memorable moments from her past. Yana has performed The Ukrainian Dentist's Daughter at Seattle's Solo Performance Festival and Victoria Fringe Festival in Canada, and in March of 2012, she is taking it to the Ukrainian Inst itute of Modern Art in Chicago. Yana, how did your play, The Ukrainian Dentist's Daughter , come about? I moved to Seattle in September of 2007 and started auditioning for anything I could find. I was very lucky to get a role with a company called theate r simple ; they cast me in multiple shows, and we toured those shows to the E d- monton Fringe Festival and then to Australia. It was then that I realized that I could combine my two passions — theater and travel. I was greatly impressed by the many shows I saw at the festivals, particularly the solo perfo r- mances. Logically, if you want to travel and to do theater, it makes sense to only have one pe r- son — it is so much easier than dealing with a huge cast. So I just started jotting down what I might want to write a bout. As I went through different options, it just struck me one day that I wanted to tell a story that I often end up tel l- ing people anyway. I am Adrianna, but I go by 'Yana,' and people often ask, "Where does 'Yana' come from?" So I tell the story: that my parents were displaced persons from Ukraine and that I am a first - generation American. I always tell them my Mom’s story. I noticed that it was not only the story I liked to tell, but also what people wanted to hear. So I interviewed my Mom about her li fe up to the age of twenty - seven, which is my age now: I have four cassette tapes and sixty - five pages of transcribed inte r- views. Then I took a solo performance class in Seattle, and my first assignment was to write a ten - minute play, so I wrote the first ten - minute version of The Ukrainian Dentist's Daughter in a week. I got to perform this version at a cab a- ret in Seattle, and the producer of Seattle's solo Photo by Charlie Ainslie Photography Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40 
