The Trumpeter

★★★★ Four Stars, LondonTheatre1
★★★★ Four Stars, Plays To See
Fringe Review Exciting Work

The UK premiere of The Trumpeter, a new solo play from Ukraine, starring Kristin Milward, following her success in the internationally acclaimed Pussycat in Memory of Darkness, opens at the Finborough Theatre for a four week limited season.

Trapped beneath the Azovstal steelworks during the siege of Mariupol in Spring 2022, the battered remnants of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade endure the never ending barrage of Russian heavy artillery.

The trumpeter, the only survivor of the Brigade’s brass band, shares the terrifying darkness with two compatriots. As the shells fall threatening death at any second, the trumpeter desperately tries to find the harmony in the noise that will enable him to compose a symphony of war…

Inspired by true events, this new play by Ukrainian writer Inna Goncharova bears witness to Russia’s devastating attack on Mariupol, and is also a moving and timeless reflection on the role of art in war.

Kristin Milward’s solo performance of another Ukrainian play at the Finborough Theatre – Neda Nejdana’s Pussycat in Memory of Darkness – first seen in 2022, and revived by popular demand in 2023, received huge press acclaim, and was nominated for both ‘Best Play’ and ‘Best Lead Performance in A Play’ in the OffWestEnd Awards. It subsequently became the first foreign production to perform in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, and has been seen internationally in Germany, Portugal, the USA and again on a second visit to Ukraine.

Vladimir Shcherban of HUNCHtheatre and Belarus Free Theatre directs.

Actor Brian Cox said of her performance in Pussycat in Memory of Darkness: ‘The only way to describe Kristin Millward’s work in Pussycat in Memory of Darkness is exquisite. It is a heart-rending performance of a Ukrainian woman dealing with being inside the Russian sector of Ukraine and every beat of the performance Kristin imbues with incredible empathy. It may be a small, one-woman show but it has extraordinary reverberations through its dramatic source and Kristin’s work is very much a must see.’

The run of The Trumpeter will be accompanied by a series of informal post-show events including poetry readings, music, playreading, play performances, discussions and debates, all inspired by Ukraine or conflict in general. All post-show events are FREE to ticketholders for the preceding performance of The Trumpeter. Each post show event will run for approximately forty minutes unless otherwise stated.

Tuesday, 9 July
Preview. No extra event.

Wednesday, 10 July
Preview. No extra event.

Thursday, 11 July
POETRY AND MUSIC
Kateryna Babkyna, poet, and Mariia Petrovska bandura and vocals.
An exciting new collaboration between Kateryna Babkina, one of Ukraine’s best loved poets, and a rising young star of the music scene, singer and bandura maestro Mariia Petrovska.

Friday, 12 July
DEBATE
The Trumpeter: Kristin Milward, Vladimir Shcherban, Inna Goncharova & John Farndon.
Talk with The Trumpeter‘s creative team: actress Kristin Milward, director Vladimir Shcherban, playwright Inna Goncharova (from Kyiv via zoom) and translator John Farndon.

Saturday 13 July, matinee
MUSIC
Ukrainian Polyphony with Toloka: Ukrainian traditional polyphonic singing.
Stunning Ukrainian polyphonic songs from the Toloka vocal ensemble, brought together from different regions of Ukraine.

Saturday, 13 July, evening
POETRY AND MUSIC
Kateryna Babkyna, poet, and Ukrainian Polyphony with Toloka
Kateryna Babkina, one of Ukraine’s best loved poets, and Ukrainian polyphony from Toloka.

Tuesday, 16 July
DRAMA, POETRY AND DEBATE
For Killed Poets: dedicated to the artists who have been killed in the Ukraine war.
This evening is dedicated to poets and other artists killed in the Ukraine war. It includes an innovative dramatisation of War the Scariest Show by the late Maksym Kryvstov (killed in January 2024), with Bogdana Kalantay, directed by Poppy Franziska; and a tribute by leading Ukrainian academic and international Booker prize judge Uilieam Blacker to the late Victoria Amelina and other victims of war.

Wednesday, 17 July
DRAMA, POETRY AND DEBATE
For Killed Poets: dedicated to the artists who have been killed in the Ukraine war.
As Tuesday, 16 July.

Thursday, 18 July
DRAMA, POETRY AND DEBATE
For Killed Poets: dedicated to the artists who have been killed in the Ukraine war.
As Tuesday, 16 July.

Friday, 19 July
PLAYREADING
Bluebirds by Vern Thiessen. Directed by Vicky Moran. With Tia Bannon, Kirsty Bushell and Jenny Lee.
The European premiere playreading of the Canadian First World War play.

Saturday, 20 July, matinee
No extra event.

Saturday, 20 July, evening
POETRY
Poems of War with Janie Dee and Stephen Omer.
Readings of war poetry, from wars past and present, including Wilfred Owen, Gwendolyn Brooks, Harold Pinter, Siegfried Sassoon, Oscar Wilde, Tetyana Maslova and Anna Germanova. 

Sunday, 21 July
POETRY
Take Only What is Most Important
Readings of recent Ukrainian poetry of war (in Ukrainian and English) with Valery Reva, Savannah Beckford, Gabe Gilmour, Cara Heal, Benita C. Lambrechts and Emma Sandborgh.

Tuesday, 23 July
POETRY
War on Words: Imprisoned poets with Hanna Komar and Mohsen Mohammed.
Poems from political prisoners from acclaimed poets Belarusian Hanna Komar and Egyptian Mohsen Mohammed. 

Wednesday, 24 July
DEBATE
To be confirmed

Thursday, 25 July
To be confirmed

Friday, 26 July
SPOKEN WORD
My Mother Lives in My Hips: with Anastasiya Ador
Star of India films Aranyak, and Farzi, Anastasiya Ador delves wildly into her Belarusian and Ukrainian roots to tell the story of her mother.

Saturday, 27 July, matinee
To be confirmed. 

Saturday, 27 July, evening
To be confirmed.

Sunday, 28 July, matinee
DEBATE
The Trumpeter: Kristin Milward, Inna Goncharova & John Farndon.
Talk with The Trumpeter‘s creative team: actress Kristin Milward, playwright Inna Goncharova (from Kyiv via zoom) and translator John Farndon.

Tuesday, 30 July
DEBATE
Why Ukraine:
Ukrainian playwright Natalka Vorozhbyt (via zoom) and Asia Pshenychna (Young Playwrights Ukraine debate why Ukrainian drama matters with Molly Flynn (Birkbeck) and Panyiotis Xenophotis (Oxford Uni)

Wednesday, 31 July
POETRY AND DEBATE
Barred Verses: Joelle Taylor, Hanna Komar and Mohamed Mohsen
TS Eliot Prize winning poet Joelle Taylor, Belarusian poet Hanna Komar and Egyptian poet Mohsen Mohamed read poems and debate the power of poetry in prison.

Thursday, 1 August
To be confirmed.

Friday, 2 August
PLAYREADING
Christmas in the Shade by Kseniia Kozlievska
Maureen Beattie and Matthew Zajac with Katya Searle
A playreading of a brand new play written by 18 year-old Ukrainian refugee Kseniia Kozlievska which was read to great acclaim earlier this year at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre.

Saturday, 3 August , matinee
To be confirmed.

Saturday, 3 August , evening
PLAYREADING
Christmas in the Shade by Kseniia Kozlievska
As Friday, 2 August.