Performances begin on Tuesday, 9 July 2024.
The UK premiere of The Trumpeter, a new solo play from Ukraine, starring Kristin Milward, following her success in the internationally acclaimed Pussycat in Memory of Darkness, opens at the Finborough Theatre for a four week limited season on Tuesday, 9 July 2024.
Trapped beneath the Azovstal steelworks during the siege of Mariupol in Spring 2022, the battered remnants of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade endure the never ending barrage of Russian heavy artillery.
The trumpeter, the only survivor of the Brigade's brass band, shares the terrifying darkness with two compatriots. As the shells fall threatening death at any second, the trumpeter desperately tries to find the harmony in the noise that will enable him to compose a symphony of war…
Inspired by true events, this new play by Ukrainian writer Inna Goncharovabears witness to Russia’s devastating attack on Mariupol, and is also a moving and timeless reflection on the role of art in war.
Kristin Milward's solo performance of another Ukrainian play at the Finborough Theatre – Neda Nejdana's Pussycat in Memory of Darkness – first seen in 2022, and revived by popular demand in 2023, received huge press acclaim, and was nominated for both ‘Best Play’ and ‘Best Lead Performance in A Play’ in the OffWestEnd Awards. It subsequently became the first foreign production to perform in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began and has been seen internationally in Germany, Portugal, the USA and again on a second visit to Ukraine.
Vladimir Shcherban of HUNCHtheatre and Belarus Free Theatre directs.
Free to ticketholders, following performances in the second week of the run, we will be presenting a varied and exciting programme of Ukrainian music, poetry, short dramas and discussion. Details will be announced very shortly.
The original German production of The Trumpeter at the Wiesbadener Staatstheater was supported by the Pitrimka Ukrainian Support Group in Wiesbaden as part of the Ukrainian Cultural Days festival in the city in February 2024.
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