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 2024
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
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
“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ТРАВЕНЬ 2014 WWW.UNWLA.ORG 13 CAPT. JOHN SMITH GOES TO UKRAINE Performance Review by Olena Jennings You know from American culture that Captain John Smith fell in love with Pocahontas, but did you also know that he had adventures in Ukraine? In Captain John Smith Goes to Ukraine , director Virlana Tkacz relates the fre- quently overlooked stories of Smith’s adventures in Eastern Europe and Turkey on stage. At the beginning of the play, Captain John Smith (Bob Holman) sits down to pen his story at the urging of his sidekick Julian (Julian Kytasty). His story cannot be written yet because he has not experi- enced the adventures about which he will write. Susan Hwang completes this unlikely trio of ad- venturers who, in some cases, do not even speak the same language: John Smith and Susan Hwang speak in English while Julian speaks in Ukraini- an. This dramatic bilingualism is characteristic of Yara’s style; two languages are woven together seamlessly. Yet a third language comes into play on film when Khan Bora Ghazi Geray (Erdem Tai- rov) recites in Crimean Tatar a poem which is fol- lowed by Julian’s reading of its eloquent transla- tion into Ukrainian by Ivan Franko. The combination of diverse elements makes this performance one of Yara’s most suc- cessful. The actors all collaborated in the writing of the piece. Susan Hwang contributed her poetic lyricism in songs such as “Three Heads is Love” and “New World.” Bob Holman recited many of his own poems such as “My Heart is a Real Thing.” Julian Kytasty played on the bandura au- thentic dumas or epic songs from the time of Cap- tain John Smith. Susan Hwang, in Yara Arts Group’s “Capt. John Smith Goes to Ukraine”. Photo by Volodymyr Klyuzko Susan Hwang and Bob Holman in Yara Arts Group’s “Capt. John Smith Goes to Ukraine,” February 27-March 9, 2014. Photo by Victor Serbin The acting was accompanied by projections from Volodymyr Klyuzko and Mikhail Shraga. The projections ranged from maps detailing Smith’s ex- plorations to idyllic images of Kolomyia. The text of the book which Smith wrote and engravings by John Payne were also featured as projections. The narrative began in the 1600s when Captain John Smith fought the Turks in three separate duels. At that moment, Susan Hwang sang and played her catchy “Three Heads is Love” on the accordion. According to Hwang, two Turks killed by Smith was simply not enough when three heads is love! Then, Smith ventured across the Black Sea in a tumultuous storm portrayed by a curtain that flowed back and forth over Smith. There he was captured by the Tartars and fell in love with his owner—a young woman in Constan- tinople who wished to escape with him. Current events in Ukraine were not for- gotten. As Julian sang “The Song of Truth and Lies,” Captain John Smith referred to the people of the Maidan and projections of events in Ukraine accompanied the song. Ukraine is experi- encing incredible change just as the world was changing dramatically in Smith’s time. The song “New World” was sung along with a slideshow in which the characters were thrust into the modern world. They held a sign that said “New World?” in such places as the sub- way. In this way, we were encouraged to think about the daily discoveries we make. The charac- ters were at once present in Smith’s world and as themselves in New York City of 2014. In the end, Smith had plenty of adven- tures about which to write, and his book was self- writing.
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 
