Ukrainian actress Vira Klymkovetska, who survived the bombing of hospitals in Kyiv, is performing in a production at the Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling on Thursday. The 38-year-old, now living in Stirling with her two children, is part of Trojans: Why Am I In Your Country?, a theatre piece telling the stories of people displaced by conflict.
Klymkovetska, from Kharkiv, stayed in Kyiv for several months before fleeing to Europe as the Russian invasion intensified. She was initially given shelter by a family in Dunblane under the government's Homes for Ukraine scheme, before being given a flat to raise her children.
A return to the stage
Speaking about her return to theatre, Klymkovetska said: "I thought it would be impossible to have the opportunity and work in theatre again, and I am so happy to have had the chance to go back into theatre, to play and also to be a director."
She added: "Acting has been my life since I was 12 years old, I have acted ever since working on plays in many different countries. I didn't choose this profession, it chose me."
The award-winning stage actress, who has performed across Europe, described the moment she realised she had to leave Ukraine. "At first I didn't want to leave because all my relationships with people where in Kyiv. And I thought the war would stop quickly, I though it was impossible in the modern world for it to go on," she said.
Surviving the bombing
Klymkovetska was pregnant during the bombing of hospitals in Kyiv, which claimed the lives of women and children in maternity units. She said: "I was pregnant with my youngest child and when I gave birth to my child and there were sirens, because they bombed the hospitals."
She recalled: "I left with one small bag for us all. I later heard from neighbours that the block of flats I stayed in, the Russians had got on to the roof and painted a sign on the roof, they made it a target."
Klymkovetska was also part of the 2020 film Lethal Cats, which depicted the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, a job she says has marked her out as a Russian target. "The Russians say they will kill us," she said. "So it is risky and dangerous for me to return and possibly meet Russians."
Spreading a message of peace
Through weekly workshops at Hillview Community Centre in Stirling, refugees have used theatre, storytelling and oral history to explore themes of displacement, resilience and rebuilding life in a new country. The Trojans UK Stirling programme has brought together refugees and asylum seekers from Ukrainian, Afghan, Sudanese, Syrian and other backgrounds, alongside local communities.
Written more than 2,400 years ago, The Trojan Women explores the experiences of women displaced by conflict. Klymkovetska said: "I hope the audiences for this play can get the message from the stage to hopefully help people be free again, happy, with open minds."
The project is co-founded by journalist Charlotte Eager and theatre director William Stirling. William said: "Over the past few months we've watched participants grow in confidence, support one another and shape a production that is completely their own."
Alongside the performances, participants are creating a permanent oral history archive of refugee testimony, to be housed at the University of Stirling. Trojans: Why Am I In Your Country? is at Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling on 24 and 25 September.
