New Kyiv play, "Povorot," recalls the life and execution of Mykhailo and Olena Teliha (04/15/01)

New Kyiv play, "Povorot," recalls the life and execution of Mykhailo and Olena Teliha

by Jerry Kindrachuk

KYIV - "This wasn't so," is the opening line of "Povorot," (The Return) a romantic tragedy about the brief poetic life and execution at Babyn Yar of Mykhailo and Olena Teliha. For the next two hours the audience is transfixed by the emotion and heroism of this couple that gave their lives for the cause of Ukrainian independence.

The play is based on the poetry and letters written during the early courtship, marriage, self-imposed exile in Prague, and subsequent return to a certain death in Ukraine. The audiences' emotions are craftily drawn from the romance in Olena's love letters, to the tragedy in her passionate, and painful, battle for her cause.

The acting by Svitlana Vatamaniuk and Yaroslav Hranko is superb.

The set is simple, yet very effective. Throughout the play, as Mykhailo's and Olena's lives unfold, small mementos are draped casually over a series of frames bound together in a Mondrian-like fashion, and, by the end of the play, they form a collage of the couple's life together.

Although, this is a two-person play, a solo violinist, Victor Krysko, wanders unobtrusively among them. The music is well-chosen to add to the drama of the moment.

Ms. Vatamaniuk, originally of Ivan-Frankivsk, is an actress with the Molodizhnyi Theater in Kyiv. A graduate of the Kyiv Theater Institute, she has appeared in numerous plays and movies, and is familiar to U.S. audiences for her 1995 portrayal of Lesia Ukrainka, and her role with Bohdan Stupka in a two-person play by Bernard Shaw.

Mr. Hranko, also a graduate of the Kyiv Theater Institute, has appeared in a range of roles throughout Ukraine and Europe. He is the deputy director of the Molodyi Theater in Kyiv.

Mr. Krysko is a graduate of the Kyiv Conservatory whose credits include performances with the national symphony, numerous compositions for TV and film, leadership of the Ars Viva string quartet, and solos with the RJ Orchestra. He is currently music director of the television station ISTV.

This production of "Povorot" was largely financed and sponsored by the Self Reliance (NY) Federal Credit Union, which by this worthy contribution, has again exhibited its commitment to depositors and the Ukrainian community at large. An effort is underway to bring this performance to the United States and Canada.

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