Maria – Unity Theatre

Commissioned by Unity Theatre and Culture Liverpool as part of the Eurovision Cultural Festival 2023, and supported by The Lowry in Salford, Yurii Radionov and Shorena Shoniia’s world-premiere production of Ulas Samchuk’s 1934 novel, follows the life of a young woman through the history of Ukrainian upheaval from the 1861 emancipation of serfs in the Russian Empire under the Tsars through to Holodomor: the communist-regime’s induced mass starvation in Soviet Ukraine in the early 1930’s.

As well as marking the 90^th anniversary of this horrific and unimaginable event, it is a timely parallel to the events that continue in Ukraine following the attempted invasion by Russia in 2022, echoed by its performance from a cast of seven Ukrainian refugee actors currently living in the UK as a result of the war. Maria combines traditional Ukrainian folk music with contemporary dance and innovative theatre.

We meet an orphaned young Maria (Shoniia) and the compromises she is forced to adopt to survive as well as the hardships of child mortality with her first husband, Hnat (Lavrentii Tarasevych). True love emerges with Korniy (Oleksandr Begma) and they are blessed with two children, daughter Nadiya (Olena Shevtsova) and son Maxim (Vadym Golovko). But as life prepares to step to the next generation with the arrival of Nadiya’s groom (Radionov), a cold wind is sweeping in from the East that will change their lives and that of their neighbour (Viktoriia Ilina) forever. Other supporting roles are played by cast members throughout.

The opening scenes mirror the quirkiness of Amelie, and we are treated to some well-choreographed physical theatre, the rich vein of which continues throughout, and which combines well with traditional Ukrainian folk music and contemporary dance. Whilst this production was performed in English with Ukrainian surtitles, some songs were rightly sung in their original language with complementary English surtitles, and these allow the gentle humour to build steadily before the dark clouds begin to hover overhead.

The challenge of any production is to keep the audience engaged and whilst initially successful, the long opening half – or should I say two thirds – did begin to drag, not aided by the shifting mood of the piece. It also meant that the second half – or final third – contained the darkest material and we could have done with a post-interval lift before descending into it. Don’t get me wrong, there’s no way to lighten the tone of a harsh message from history but an earlier split could have worked better dramatically. Whilst some of the writing veers towards telling, the company’s imaginative approach on the whole countered this effectively with great use of props and mime routine.

With set and costumes by celebrated designer Juliya Zaulychna, and props and instruments driven from Ukraine especially for this new production, the clever and thoughtful lighting and sound treatments combined perfectly with consummate performances from all the cast.

This is an important production for obvious reasons, but it also highlights the exploitation at the heart of any empire – just think of the Irish famine closer to home – or the implicit abuse of power within society that resonate in our own cost of living crisis exacerbated by Brexit and the pandemic. In a dramatic context, the innovative approach with its production confidently embracing a wide variety of theatrical treatments alone makes it a must see for students and experienced professionals alike.

Maria performs again on Wednesday 10^th and Thursday 11^th May at 19:30 with a matinee performance at 14:00 also on Thursday 11^th May. Whilst tickets for this production are free, you will need to purchase a ticket online in advance, further details https://www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk/whats-on/maria/

Reviewer: Mark Davoren

Reviewed: 9^th May 2023

North West End UK Rating: