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НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ • Листопад 2023 17 Emma Denson is an Ala - bama-born, Brooklyn-based director and writer of theatre. Most recently, she directed an Off-Broadway Development Workshop Reading of the new musical Runaway Home , starring Melissa Gilbert, Mi - chael Park, and Abigail Breslin. She was a 2023 Berkeley Rep Ground Floor Artist, where she worked with LeAnne Howe and Colm Summers on The Keening (Co-Deviser/Associate Director). In June, Emma won best short at the Downtown Urban Arts Festival 2023 for her play, Otis and Anna , which she wrote and directed. In January 2023, she directed a reading of Hunger at the Irish Arts Center for the Origin Theatre Company’s First Irish Festival; a second reading took place at The Ukrainian Museum in May. She wrote and directed the short play sub[vert] way as part of IATI Theater’s Mujerstory 2023, and was recently a director-in-residence at Mississippi State University. Currently, she is also produc - tion manager for Raja Feather Kelly’s dance/theatre group, the feath3r theory and the Develop - ment Associate at Origin Thea - tre Company. Selected credits: The Keening (Assistant Director, Irish Arts Center), The Taming of Kate (Director/Deviser, Triskel - lion Arts), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Director, Stagedoor Manor), Emily (Direc - tor, The Chain), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Assistant Direc - tor, Classical Theatre Harlem Young Company), Blanche and Stella (Assistant Director, Columbia University), Top Hate (Director, Staged Reading at Arts on Site), The Messages (Assistant Director, BRICLab Res - idency), Wedding of the Painted Doll (Director, Staged Reading at Polaris North). www.emmadenson.com Maria translated some of the English back to Ukrainian. We applied for a large grant, which we didn’t end up getting, but what it did do was force us to get serious about finding a team of people to make this happen. Stephanie Bahniuk, a Ukrainian Canadian scenic and costume design - er, joined the project after I met her through A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Columbia University. Anna Volkova, a Ukrainian graphic artist who designed our beautiful poster, initially reached out to me on Ins - tagram to see if I would purchase a print to support Ukraine, and was brought onto the team as our graphic designer. Maryna Vogtsberger, a Ukrainian actress and dancer who was introduced to me by a personal friend, was thrilled to be involved as her grandmother survived as a child victim of the Holodomor. Aislinn Cain, a childhood friend from Alabama who moved to New York a year after I did, was quick to join as a marketer and producer because her grandmother lived in Ukraine for a number of years, and her own family emigrated from there just a few generations ago. Suddenly, we had not only a full production team, but a community around the project. The first reading of Hunger took place in January at the Irish Arts Center, at Origin Theatre Company’s 1st Irish Festival 2023. The play was admitted into the festival on the grounds of the parallels between the Holodomor and the Great Hunger of 1847, both of which were political, and both of which eradicated millions of lives. The project re - ceived support from the Ukrainian National Women’s League of Amer - ica, without which the reading would not have been possible. In March, I was commissioned to bring Hunger to my alma mater, Mis - sissippi State University, as a director-in-residence for a week. There, I directed another reading of the play with current students in the thea - tre department, none of whom had heard of the Holodomor. I shared research images and walked through some of the historical context of the play with them. All of them told me they went home and did even more research, which broke their hearts even more for the characters they portrayed and the millions of people the characters represent. The residency concluded in two reading performances, both of which ended with a talkback and Q&A session with History Professor Dr. Ste - phen Brain. The residency raised awareness of the war in Ukraine and of the Holodomor in a community that was not as familiar with it. May 2023 marked the second reading of Hunger in NYC, also funded by the UNWLA. The sold-out event was held at The Ukrainian Muse - um, which felt like a full-circle moment. Maria, Kalyna Cholhan Boy - chuk (Bohdan Boychuk’s daughter-in-law), and the rest of the museum staff were incredibly supportive, and it was an honor to perform for the community there. As of early November, the cast was in residence in NYC to develop the play further as we start experimenting with a more realized staging of the piece. This month, as we remember the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, I am reminded more than ever of the importance of intercultural exchange and the power of the arts. Boychuk’s play captures the horrors of the Holo - domor, but also the hope that can be found even in the darkest of times. Moving forward, our goal is to do the same. With continued support from organizations such as the UNWLA, The Ukrainian Museum, Origin Theatre Company, and Mississippi State University, we are hopeful that we will be able to fully produce this show, reaching a wider audience base and rais - ing more awareness, and funds, for the ongoing war in Ukraine.
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