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“ НAШЕ ЖИТТЯ ”, ГРУДЕНЬ 2011 WWW.UNWLA@UNWLA.ORG 7 An Excerpt from The Ukrainian Dentist's Daughter : 6 - YEAR OLD: We have been on this boat for 6 nights. The boat’s name is General Hauser. Everyone on the boat is given a bunk bed. They go up very high, 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 high. Mine’s one of the highest ones. Mama’s mad about that. ЧОМУ ШЕСТИЛІТНА ДИТИНА МУСИТЬ ТАК ВИСОКО СПАТИ? WHY WOUL D A 6 - YEAR OLD CHILD BE GIVEN THE HIGHEST BUNK? But she doesn’t say anything. It’s strange because usually Mama has no prob lem complaining but I think maybe she doesn’t want the people driving the boat to get mad. We’re going to America, and she said I should be quiet and not to cry. All the men sleep on the other side of the boat from the women and children. I miss Tato and u s all sleeping together at night. Here Mama used the belts that she put around the trunks to strap me to my bunk so that I don’t fall off. But tonight she put them back around the trunks because we get off the boat tomorrow...[falls off bunk.] Mama says not to cry. performance festival asked me to expand it and do a full - length show at the festival four months lat er. I agreed, and the whole show premiered in Seattle in April 2010. It's been great since then: I just love telling this story, and people have told me that they love to hear it. What was your Mom's reaction to the show? She loved it. She really, really enjoyed it. Both Mama and Tato saw two performances in Vi c- toria, and I introduced them at the end. I said: "I am the Ukrainian dentist's granddaughter, and this story was inspired by my mother who is sitting right there." And Mama was very sweet; she sat u p and waved to everybody. And then I pointed to my father and said: "And that's the man who kept her waiting," and ev e- ryone laughed. So they both really enjoyed it. There was, of course, a moment of thinking, "What if she doesn't like it?" But you know, I told her when I had interviews with her not to tell me anything she wouldn't want me to use. I promised I would only use the things she gave me and then have some creative license. And she gave me a lot, so I had a lot to work with. What are the particula r joys and cha l- lenges of performing a solo piece like The Ukrainian Dentist's Daughter , in which you get to play all the characters? It is so wonderful that the other party, the other entity with you there, on the stage, is actually the entire audience. A lthough this can also be true of traditional plays, oftentimes in those kinds of plays , you pretend that the audience is not there. They just get the angle of a fly on the wall, whereas in this piece , I think , I really e n- gage them. Even though when I perform it, the lights are in my eyes and I can't see anybody, I am hoping that people feel that I am actually talking to them. At the same time, it is quite a workout, especially because I decided not to have any props — I wanted to keep it about the stor y and about the acting. Because there are no props, I don't have an opportunity to take even the tiniest break. You know, if you have a cup of water as a prop, at a suitable moment in the play, you are able to take a sip of water. This is not the case for me in The Ukrainian Dentist's Daughter . Do you have a favorite little moment in the play? I really like the waiting moment, just the s i- lence — it's about thirty seconds long. I like to think about what the audience must be thin k- ing. I wonder if at first the y think, "Oh, did she forget her line?" or "Was the light supposed to change and that didn't happen?" And then they realize, "Oh my goodness, no, she is just wai t- ing... Oh, my gosh! She's been talking to us this whole time, but, actually, we are in her hea d, and she is just sitting there..." And then it gets really uncomfortable, and their thoughts must be something like: "Why won't she talk again? When is she going to talk again? Is she ever going to talk again?" People get sort of wiggly and they don't kn ow what to do, and then I start talking again... I love how in that moment
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