Ukrainian Fiction for Understanding the War

in focus

Preserving the soul
of Mariupol

Aug 02, 2024

Director Anton Telbizov was born in the small village of Starodubivka and always knew that theater would be his life. His unshakeable spirit comes through as he talks about his beginnings.

"In rural areas, there is a stereotype that a creative profession will not feed you and will not bring you anything good. For me, it was exactly the opposite. I dreamed of this profession. That's why I always know, if a person sincerely wants something he or she will definitely achieve it."

Anton founded "Teatromania" in Mariupol in 2011 along with actress Olga Samoilova. Initially, it was a theater club for young people where they taught the basics of acting and staged small performances at city events. Over time, the theater grew and gained popularity. It began to create its own productions drawing on social issues and historical events.

After the Euromaidan protests and the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Russia invaded and Mariupol became a frontline city. This had significant impact on the theater. It became an incentive to create performances on societally important topics: for example the acclaimed "Farewell to Arms" —silent sketches on the creation of weapons from sticks to nuclear bomb.

"Farewell to Arms" Photo: Till Dörfler

The fact that we were occupied in 2014 but then liberated awakened people very much. Especially the interest in everything Ukrainian - people started creating music, poetry, publishing books, and organizing events. In 2021, Mariupol received the title of Cultural Capital, and with it a whole calendar of cultural events.

Anton Telbizov

Teatromania was very popular in Mariupol, with a full repertoire and sold-out performances. Their work included productions based on the works of Babel and Kotsiubynsky, as well as experimental performances such as their online version of Romeo and Juliet that they did in collaboration with Dortmund theater group in Germany.

Experimental online performance of Romeo and Juliet

Everything looked like the year 2022 was going to be even more exciting for us. We started it with our production of "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors," a very sensitive and musical story that we had been working on for several months.

Anton Telbizov

Scene from "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" in Mariupol just before the war started.

The performance was a hit. And, it was to be their last in Ukraine. After February 24, 2022 the theater was forced to cease all activities. Teatromania's home, in the Center for Contemporary Art, was brutally attacked. Theater members fled to different parts of the country and the world.

Home of Teatromania in Mariupol destroyed. Photo by Anatoliy Kinashchuk

Teatromania, that had grown into such a vibrant independent theater, innovating with Ukrainian and foreign directors in all kinds of projects and festivals, halted in an instant.

But Anton Telbizov, who had been running Teatromania for 12 years staging dozens of plays and educating generations of actors, did not stop.

In 2022, after the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion, he founded a theater studio for Ukrainian teenagers in Hanover, Germany. He is helping them integrate into a new society through the arts.

Teatromania has resumed its activities, now abroad in the capital of Lower Saxony in northern Germany.

In "You are the Universe" the young actors tell about their experiences in the war and how they have found the strength to live on.

Actress Sofia Selyutina escaped Mariupol on March 29.

"We are alive. With great difficulty we left. The realization that my hometown fell in just a month is killing me. At the moment when the shell hit our house, my life flashed before my eyes at breakneck speed.

I managed to say goodbye to everyone who was dear to me, and after they didn't answer me immediately when I started calling, I thought I was all alone. It was the worst month of my life, and I still have nightmares about it. Tears, fear, screams, prayers. All this was repeated day after day. The words "I'm going to shoot you now" are still running through my head to this day.

I am overwhelmed with anger. I want to scream. I need to get back on my feet and lift my parents up, I need to be happy and make them happy. The loss of my hometown is a severe blow, the bruise from which will not go away soon or at all. I survived, so I have something to contribute to this world. I have to believe. You have to live."

Actress Maria Kutnyakova escaped Mariupol on March 17.

"I left with the feeling that the city was destroyed, and I might never come back. I realized that many people had died here and would die. Until March 16, we clung to our native Mariupol, believing that our army would repel the attack and everything would be fine.

We stepped out of our house, and on the way to the Drama Theater, we were shelled by Russian tanks. We checked into the theater, and an hour and a half later, an airplane dropped a bomb on it. We miraculously survived and ran to the Philharmonic. They started bombing it.

Then we knew the Russian army wanted to kill all civilians, that they were bombing refugee centers, and we had to leave the city as soon as possible. We were walking through Mariupol and crying."

Now, from Germany, Maria is searching for a way to contact her uncle in Mariupol and get him out. She talked about who is killing our country and how. And just as she knows that "each of us contributes to the common victory," she knows that "we will win, return home and rebuild everything. Belief in peace helps me not to fall into darkness."

For their first major performance in Germany, Anton chose the "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors," It was held in a destroyed church, symbolically repeating the performance a year ago in a destroyed synagogue in Mariupol.

The play premiered on Ukraine's Independence Day in 2022 and raised 4000 euros to help orphans in Ukraine.

"Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" in the ruins of a synagogue. Mariupol, 2021.

"Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" in ruins of a church in Hanover, 2022.

"Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" Hanover, 2022

I always dreamed of performing in Europe, but I didn't think it would be under such circumstances. In fact, I felt proud. For Mariupol, for the country, for our nation. I want to tell everywhere that Mariupol is a great Ukrainian city with beautiful, hardworking and successful people. With this performance, we proved that we have a rich history, our unique culture, and that we deserve to be known all over the world.

Anton Telbizov

The first year of the Teatromania 2:0 was filled with projects. They performed a digitalized version of "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" in Hanover and created a puppet show called "Neighbor," which premiered in September 2022. In November 2022, they performed "Farewell to Arms" and and December it debuted at the Berlin Theater Festival.

"Shadows of forgotten ancestors"

"Farewell to Arms". Photo: Till Dörfler

"Shadows of forgotten ancestors"

"Farewell to Arms". Photo: Till Dörfler

In 2023, Teatromania continued its active work in Hanover. The year began with the release of a documentary about the director Anton Telbizov.

A documentary about Anton Telbizov

In January 2023, the play Wings premiered in Hannover and was shown 7 times.

The documentary play "Wings"

In April, the theater successfully presented the puppet fairy tale "The Neighbor". The performance was held in Ukrainian. This fairy tale, which was a sell-out, was staged for children from Ukraine who saw the war, lost their homes, but still believe in miracles.

Puppet show "The Neighbor"

In June, the premiere of the documentary "Mariupol. The City of Hope" took place in Poland.

Also in June, the international project "Are you there? we are here..." was launched with a premiere in the UK.

In the summer and fall, the theater participated in various events and festivals, including the Month of Civic Engagement in Hanover and the Days of Ukrainian Culture festival, as well as a tour to Hamelin and participation in the Easy Language project in Göttingen. At the end of the year, the theater presented the video film Man and Gun and the premiere of Sandora as part of the Utopia Laborinth project in Berlin.

performance Sandora

Teatromania continues to support Ukrainian culture abroad by raising funds to help Ukrainian children affected by the war. Anton Telbizov dreams of returning to his native Mariupol after its de-occupation, resuming theater activities in the city, and continuing to work on new creative projects.

Every time I go on the theater stage with a speech, I get a lump in my throat, because I have to talk out loud, in front of a large audience, about our theater and the fact that we are from Mariupol.

Anton Telbizov