»Confronting the Shadow« by the Ukrainian director Tamara Trunova is a co-production between the Left Bank Theatre in Kyiv and the Performing Exiles Festival. The work is an attempt to represent and highlight the theme of absence: Initially planned as a stage production revolving around issues of war and feminism, in recent days and weeks Trunova has widened its focus: Is what is at stake the disappearance of an entire country? And will that country’s role be reduced to that of a victim? What and who is the dark side and why does it consistently pursue us? Does the shadow have a voice? How long will it survive after the object, the subject or the entire country has disappeared? Together with six actors and a musician, Tamara Trunova will develop a new production shaped by living and working in Ukraine and Europe.

Tamara Trunova is a renowned Ukrainian theatre and opera director and is also active as a playwright. Since 2019, she has been the leading director of the Left Bank Theatre in Kyiv and is considered one of the leading representatives of the new generation of Ukrainian theatre. Trunova has realized over 30 productions in Ukraine and internationally in Germany, Great Britain, Lithuania, Latvia and Sweden. Her work has been awarded numerous prizes, including the prestigious Shevchenko Prize

As part of Performing Exiles** 19.-28.6. at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, the HAU – Hebbel am Ufer and Ballhaus Ost**. The international and interdisciplinary festival produced by the Berliner Festspiele seeks to make diasporic lives in the city of Berlin visible and explores the contemporary meaning of exile.