The Drama Is Present: Feuerpause

Ukrainian author Serhij Zhadan’s novels have conquered the stages of German-speaking theatres already. Cease-Fire, his first play, is now available in a German translation. It tells of a smouldering war and increasingly precarious conditions.  Death brings everyone together: While their deceased mother is lying upstairs in the bedroom, in the kitchen, two brothers see each other for the first time in a very long time. Over and over, there are knocks at the door, more people from the village come in, the house of the dead woman is filled with life, it becomes at once refuge and trap. The play is set in the summer of 2014 in the Donbas, where Ukraine is being attacked by armed troops. It might as well be 2025, while this war has become a global issue and Zhadan himself is actively fighting for his country.

In laconic language and with a great deal of situational comedy, Zhadan creates an atmospherically dense scene, in which his figures can no longer avoid each other, forming a forced community riven by hostility.

Cease-Fire is a text for the stage and makes for great literature. So let’s celebrate this book launch together with Sebastian Anton, translator Anna Kolomiitseva, and members of the Volksbühne ensemble. Moderated by Ruth Feindel.