The Finborough Theatre's #FinboroughFrontier Continues With the Fourth Instalment in #VoicesFromUkraine

The Finborough Theatre's new digital initiative #FinboroughFrontier continues with the fourth instalment in the company's ongoing #VoicesFromUkraine season - a new complement to its season featuring a response to the war in Ukraine from an award-winning British poet and composer partnered with a Ukrainian artist.

In response to the invasion of Ukraine, Olivier Award nominated producer, poet, composer and activist, Bréon Rydell, has written a moving Open Letter highlighting the horrific outcome of this act of war against an independent, democratic state and its people.

"Know us by our courage not by our fear."

Inspired by his words, Ukrainian artist Anna Heller, from her temporary home in Berlin, has provided a powerful soundscape, drawing on her deeply personal experience of the conflict, to create a challenging, yet hopeful, sonic landscape.

Bréon Rydell's work is characterised by its consistent humanitarian themes. He has always sought to highlight the suffering of others, using his work to bring empathy, and most importantly, to create a stirring, positive, narrative to help uplift the human spirit. In the 1980s, he was challenging the National Front with songs he had written for his indie band, Accent, and today his most recent work, Stand Up For Ukraine, a rallying cry for justice and freedom, seeks to provoke a more emboldened global response in support of the country in its battle against the brutal, authoritarian invasion by the Russian military:

"We have been here before. Throughout human existence, our ancestors fought for liberty, struggling repeatedly against ideological tyranny and human brutality. Nothing is ever static in the river of life."

Born and raised in the borderlands of Scotland, Rydell's work has taken him across the globe. His love of humanity, and the upholding of human rights, has drawn him to write about conflict and war, including the troubles in Northern Ireland. He is deeply committed to defending freedom.

His collaborator, Anna Heller, is a 24-year-old, audiovisual artist, music producer and designer from Ukraine.

"I heard Bréon's voice and words two weeks after I left Ukraine. The words touch my heart deeply. I wanted to design a soundscape which would reflect his message and guide people through the whole story, towards the truth."

Previous work by Anna Heller has been supported by The British Council and celebrated Kyiv initiative, Fusion Jams.