09/26/2026
“What sorrow it is to love the wrong person.” That was the thought I left with after watching “Marusia Churai,” a drama told through song that went straight to my heart, directed by Rostislav Derzhypilskyy at the Франківський драмтеатр
A week has passed, and I still get goosebumps and tear up watching the videos in my camera roll.
I lived this performance. All three hours of it. I forgot about everything outside that theatre. And now I really want to tell you about it, so you can go and feel it too.
Ліна Костенко 🇺🇦 (фан-сторінка) novel in verse, which so many of Ukraine from school, comes alive here in a completely different way. Music by Sviatoslav Vakarchuk , incredible actors, voices, dance– it all reaches so deep that sometimes it takes your breath away.
When I first walked into the auditorium, an actor was already lying in a hospital bed on stage. You’re still looking for your seat, but the story has already begun. And from that moment, it doesn’t let you go.
The songs and music, the way they sound and are performed – I fell in love. I want them in my playlist, to listen again, and again, and again.
«Моя любов чолом сягала неба, а Гриць ходив ногами по землі» Л.Костенко
The vechornytsi scene – a traditional Ukrainian evening gathering – stayed with me especially. You could feel Ukrainian traditions and modern life coming together so vividly. So beautiful, so alive, so close to my heart.
I’ve never felt anything like this in a theatre before.
This performance feels so much about today. It tells a story from the past, but cuts straight into our present with surgical precision. It brought me to tears, made my heart ache, and at the same time made me so proud to be Ukrainian.
Thank you to everyone who worked on this performance. Those on stage and those behind it. I still don’t have enough words to express how deeply it moved me.
Nadiia Levchenko Марія Стопник Наталія Половинка Oleksiy Gnatkovskiy Oles Sanin Ivan Blindar Roman Lutskyi Юрій Вихованець Владислав Демидюк and many others!
I really hope you bring “Marusia Churai” to Toronto. So Ukrainians in Canada can see it and live through it too. And I dream of experiencing it with you all over again.
I want the wo
