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This production is recommended for ages 13+.
Performance dates
27 February – 28 March 2026
Run time: 2hrs 40mins
Includes interval
An evening of theatre, testimony and tribute to the unbreakable spirit of Ukraine. Ukraine Unbroken is a powerful cycle of short plays about courage, truth and survival in the face of tyranny. From the producer-director of the Olivier Award-nominated The Great Game – Afghanistan, and playing a strictly limited run at the Arcola Theatre, book your official tickets today.
Ukraine Unbroken charts twelve turbulent years of modern Ukrainian history told through five gripping plays. The production consists of:
Always: In Always by Jonathan Myerson (BBC’s Nuremberg: The Trial of the Nazi War Criminals), a married couple is held hostage inside Hotel Ukraina in 2014 as their son protests in Maidan Square below.
Five Day War: David Edgar (The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby; Destiny) takes a darkly comic and sinister look at the ambition and delusion of Russia’s 2022 “Special Military Operation” – an invasion that was not an invasion and a war that was not a war.
Three Mates: Natalka Vorozhbyt (Bad Roads) explores the shame of survival in Three Mates, translated by Sasha Dugdale – a darkly humorous confession from a Ukrainian man in hiding from conscription, reflecting on the different paths through the war he and his friends have taken.
Wretched Things: David Greig’s (Dunsinane; The Events) Wretched Things tells a story of Ukrainian front-line troops who have captured a wounded North Korean soldier and must decide whether to risk their own lives to save his.
Taken: Cat Goscovitch (A Russian Doll) confronts the harrowing reality of the 20,000 Ukrainian children stolen by Russia in Taken, which follows one mother’s search for her daughter through a world of propaganda and re-education, where both childhood and country are erased.
Ukraine Unbroken consists of five plays which contain the following; strong language, discriminatory language, violence, references to child abuse or neglect, references to torture or war, blood or gore, graphic imagery. Themes of grief or bereavement, references to trauma, references to alcohol use or abuse, smoking on stage (herbal or tobacco), references to death, references to medical procedures or injury, loud noises, gunshots, flashing lights or strobe lighting, smoke effects and pyrotechnics or fire.
A timely arrival at the Arcola is Ukraine Unbroken, a reminder that the war which began four years ago with the invasion by Russia of Ukraine continues against all the odds. Many thought that Ukraine would be overwhelmed within weeks, but that didn’t happen. Charting modern Ukrainian history from 2014 to the present day, it is directed by Nicolas Kent, formerly artistic director of the Tricycle, and includes contributions from major playwrights including David Edgar, David Greig and Natalka Vorozhbit and tells many stories, including of a mother’s search for her child abducted by Russia and a Ukrainian man hiding from conscription. There’s a great cast too, including Daniel Betts and Clare Holman.
Head to the Kiln for Manic Street Creature, an impressive solo musical tour de force with music, lyrics and book by Maimuna Memon. In Manic she plays Ria, a singer-songwriter hitting London for the first time who hooks up with Daniel, beautiful but troubled. I saw the show in Edinburgh back in 2022, and it was great then, and it's been developing ever since, with standing ovations every night when it was at Southwark Playhouse. So don’t miss out on a show which is musically gutsy and brave too in the way it deals with the complexities of mental health and how you cope when the person you love isn’t coping.
2 Mar, 2026 | By Lyn Gardner