“The White Disease”: the fantastic realism of one wartime

Vision of the project

The project aims to start an open and broad cultural dialogue in Ukrainian society about the meanings and values relevant to Ukraine, as well as "new and old" social norms and relationships between people. This process will be initiated through the presentation and promotion of the project's artistic expression in the language of contemporary theater, a performance based on the play by K. Čapek "The White Disease" among the target audiences.

Right now, there are unprecedented circumstances in the history of drama in which K. Čapek's fantastic play, written in 1937, goes beyond the dystopian genre and acquires the features of realism, due to the full consonance of the plot and ideological context with the events that the world has experienced in the last few years: the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The historical and contemporary context creates a unique moment for the theatrical production of The White Plague by Ukrainian artists, the team of the Dnipro Drama Theater "We Believe!". The play by Karel Čapek, which, according to the author's idea, has an emphasis on anti-war and anti-fascist pathos, cannot be perceived by Ukrainians in its classical interpretation in 2023, because the war has already happened and is ongoing. In order to win, to protect the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine, during the war and post-war reconstruction, our country must concentrate all its efforts on defense, support for the Armed Forces, and protection (and, therefore, armament). This is the temporal and historical paradox of creating the play proposed by the project.

Meet the Key Partner

NGO ”Narodna Dopomoha Ukraine" has been implementing projects in Ukraine since the 1990s, with funding from institutional donors, including the European Commission, the Austrian Ministry for Social Affairs, the Austrian Development Agency, etc.

Nine years of experience in the implementation of nationally & internationally funded cultural projects (2 national cultural projects with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation; projects with the support of IZOLYATSIA & Carpathian Foundation), including projects focusing on training on cultural management for creative industries, performative performance's creation & promotion (tour by ten cities of Ukraine; tour by three towns of Western Ukraine) as well as abroad (2 participation in UstreamFest, Austria, Vienna); creation & development art-project FortelUA (crafting community & craft festivals organizing); art-therapeutic activities for IDP's in terms of projects implemented with the financial support of international donors.

Start Date: Nov. 1, 2023
End Date: Feb. 1, 2024