Ukrainian play-opera “Counting sheep,” directed by Marichka and Mark Marczyk, has won a top prize at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the United Kingdom, one of the world's largest arts festivals.
The couple’s “guerrilla folk opera” on Aug. 15 won the Summerhall
2016 Edinburgh Festival Luminux Award – the main theater prize of the
Summerhall Theater in Edinburgh, which hosts various plays during the
25-day festival. Marczyks’ play won the
title of this year’s best play.
Instead of the usual type of trophy, such as a statuette or cup,
Summerhall’s top award is a wild ram’s skull with gold-painted horns. The
theater also flew the flag of Ukraine from its roof.
“Counting sheep” is devoted to the couple’s memories about
the EuroMaidan protests in 2013-14, which ousted Ukraine’s fugitive
ex-president, Viktor Yanukovych. The opera is based on Ukrainian folk songs
mixed with songs played by a punk band called The Lemon Bucket Orkestra, which
is led by Mark Marczyk.
“Counting sheep” is not a classical theater play with a linear
plot and long dialogues. The 12-member cast tells the story by using the body
language and singing Ukrainian folk songs, combined with videos and photos from
the Euromaidan protests in the background.
The play was well-received by critics and got positive
reviews in leading Canadian and UK media, such as The Toronto Star, the Guardian, and the BBC.
A Canadian citizen of Ukrainian descent, Marczyk met his
wife, the leader of Ukrainian folk band Mozhychi, on Kyiv’s Independence Square
during the EuroMaidan Revolution. Together they moved to Canada in December
2014 and created a play based on their experiences.
“We did it (created
the play) because we couldn’t help doing it,”
Marichka Marczyk wrote on her Facebook page on
Aug. 16, the day after the play won the award. “We did it because the news
about Ukraine has disappeared from the media but the undeclared war still
continues (Ukraine describes it wars with Russian proxy forces in the east of
the county as an “anti-terrorist operation).”
In February 2015 the couple presented their play to an audience
at the St. Vladimir Institute in Toronto. Just a month after its premiere, in
May, the couple married. And three months later, in August, “Counting Sheep”
had its first sell out performance during the SummerWorks Performance Festival.
“At the very beginning, the play was designed for a small
audience of just 30 people. Then for 150 people. Now it’s for 200 people,” Marczyk
said.
Besides working on theatre plays, the couple also teaches traditional
eastern and central Ukrainian singing and music classes in Toronto.
The play is being staged in the Summerhall Theater until Aug.
29. The Marczyks want to bring the play to Ukraine, but have yet to fix a date,
as they are still looking for sponsors to stage the play, which involves expensive
costumes and props.
