Created by Parade-Fest & Artists On The Frontline
WITH FIRE AND RAGE
An Immersive Audio Experience
following Artists On The Frontline In Ukraine
“It's artists against invasion, culture versus colonialism, freedom of speech resisting an empire” Veronika Skliarov
Combing testimony with video, visual art, 360 photography, poetry and music, this smartphone adventure explores creativity's powerful role in the face of invasion.
Urgent stories expose attempts to eradicate the country’s cultural identity - a tactic of war - highlighting the human cost behind standing up to an empire.
Created by renowned Ukrainian producer and cultural activist Veronika Skilarova and award-winning director and writer Zoe Lafferty, they bring together over 50 of Ukraine’s most radical and innovative artists.
Originally commissioned by Culture Liverpool for the EuroFestival 2023
With Fire And Rage was originally commissioned by Culture Liverpool as part of Eurovision's EuroFestival 2023.
Over 1000+ audience members walked through Liverpool, hearing stories of creative resistance at key public and cultural locations from the Liverpool Everyman to the Philharmonic.
Narratives took audiences from music concerts in metro stations during air raids, to artworks smuggled out of cities as rockets fell, to subversive street art created under Russian occupation.
All audiences needed was a smartphone and headphones to be guided step by step with maps, directions and captions.
LISTEN NOW
With Fire And Rage was originally created as an immersive
audio tour across the streets of Liverpool. Below are extracts
of the audio, taken from the full immersive tour.
OUR BIGGEST PREMIERE YET
The full-scale invasion has put theatres in Ukraine on the frontline. War has meant transforming every corner; the stage becoming a space for humanitarian aid, the costume department a place to make soldiers’ uniforms, and staff becoming first responders.
The world-renowned Liverpool Everyman Theatre is the start of our tour.
Hear from Olha Puzhakovska, Executive and Artistic Director of Lesya Ukrainka Theatre, as she describes adapting the venue into a crisis response and humanitarian space, including creating a plan to defend the venue with Molotov cocktails.
SPIRITS FROM
CONCRETE AND IRON
When bombs begin to fall, artists are forced to lay down their instruments. Renowned musician and guitarist Stas Kononov has stayed in the frontline city Kharkiv to volunteer.
During intense shelling, he provides food and water for the 1000s of people in bomb shelters and living in the Kharkiv Metro station.
FLOWERS THAT GROW
FROM CONCRETE
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The port city of Mariupol has long preserved its spirit in the face of violence and aggression by turning to culture. Since shelling in 2015, art festivals, exhibitions and creative responses rose to champion the city’s heart. In the past year, the bombardment of Mariupol, frenzied and ruthless, has shocked the world.
Artist and arts journalist Alventina Shvetsova speaks of how she witnessed the bombing of Mariupol Drama Theatre and the murder of the people sheltering there.
THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
Journalism is not a crime but, as on many frontlines, the ability to record and report atrocity is a tenet of freedom.
Crimean Tatar Lutfie Zudieva, gave birth to her fourth child as Crimea was occupied and annexed in 2014. An event that inspired her to become a writer and led to her arrest.
OUR OWN PERSONAL HEROES
How would you feel to have another country steal your heritage, only to house it in their own museums, and rewrite your history?
Artists and cultural organisations in Ukraine are on the frontline of preserving cultural heritage ensuring that when the bombing stops, they are able to rebuild their creative communities. Listen to Oleksandra Osadcha from the Museum of Kharkiv School Of Photography, as she tells how they rescued their archives out of Kharkiv, during intense shelling.
WAR OF WORDS
Writing is a form of resistance. Throughout this tour, we include poems and testimony from Ukrainian writers. Here, in Liverpool’s cathedral of the written word, we hear from writer turned war crimes researcher Victoria Amelina who speaks about the murder of famous poet and children’s writer Volodymyr Vakulenko.
On the 1st July 2023 Victoria Amelina was killed. Read a tribute to her life and work here >>
OUR PLACE, IN OUR CITY
The battle for equality has not stopped as bombs fall. From candle-lit memorials to cars covered in rainbow streamers, activists have found ways to shout about human rights. Here, at Lovelocks, one of Liverpool’s safe spaces, listen to renowned LGBTQ+ feminist activist Anna Sharyhina who describes the city performance interventions that she has created during the full- scale invasion.
CONCERTS BETWEEN EXPLOSIONS
The air raid sirens ring out, as missiles in the sky signal the start of shelling. Many flee to metro stations, congregating underground.
KharkivMusicFest is an international classical musical event. On what would have been the first day of their festival in 2022, their musicians created a concert for the thousands of people living in Kharkiv Metro Station. Listen to Julia Nikolajevska from KharkivMusicFest as she tells of the “concerts between explosions”.
BULLET WORDS AND TANK SONGS
Russia’s war on Ukraine has transformed the life of every individual in the country. By law, all physically-fit Ukrainian men aged 18-60 are potentially subject to conscription. Leaving their towns, cities and families they travel to Ukraine’s borders to fight. Some like Dmytro Kostyuminskyi, a theatre and filmmaker, have volunteered to become a soldier on the frontline. He sends us voice messages to speak about his experiences.
PRODUCING COMPANIES
Parade-Fest & Artists On The Frontline
CREATED, DIRECTED & PRODUCED
Veronika Skliarova & Zoe Lafferty
LIVERPOOL-BASED PRODUCER & PROJECT MANAGER
ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE & CONSULTANT
Piotr Armyanovsky
NARRATION
ARTIST TESTIMONIES & STORIES
Victoria Amelina Stas Kononov Dmytro Kostyuminskyi Olha Puzhakovska Julia Nikolajevska
Oleksandra Osadcha Anna Sharyhina Alevtina Shvetsova Serhiy Zakharov Lutfie Zudieva
ORGANISATIONS SPOKEN ABOUT BY ARTISTS IN TESTIMONIES
Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography
POETRY AND ADDITIONAL TEXTS
“Counter/Retnuoc” By Alexander Levitsky From Anthology24
"Me, War And The Plastic Grenade" By Nina Zakhozhenko From Anthology24
Poem By Aliye Kenzhalieva
“Ctrl+Z” By Mykhailo Zharzhailo Translated by R.B. Lemberg
*** By Ostap Slyvynsky
“Survivor's Syndrome” By Andriy Bondarenko From Anthology24
SOUND DESIGN
MUSIC
“Then And The Day Before” by Stas Kononov & Oleg Kadanov
Additional acoustic music and music composed for "Fear Into Action" by Stas Kononov
“Empires Will Fall” by Boombox
“Concert Between Explosions” by Kharkiv Music Fest, including composition for a Quintet by Volodymyr Bohatyrov and played by musicians Stanislav Kucherenko on violin, Olha Pyshchyta on violin, Tetiana Zhuk on viola, Denys Karachevtsev on cello and Serhii Dikariev on bass
“Bach Cello Suite no 5 in C minor BWV 1011, Prelude”, "Cherry Blossoms", “Bach Cello Suite no.5 in C minor BWV 1011, Sarabande” by Denys Karachevtsev , Oleksandr Osipov, Vera Lytovchenko
Music from the production Crimea 5am Full Credits
Music from the production “Heros Of Chaos” including Direction by Dmytro Kostyuminskyi Music By Gennadiy Boychenko Full Credits
Music from the production “Imperium Delendum est” including Direction by Dmytro Zakhozhenko and Performance by Tayisiya Datsyk, Zoryana Dybovska, Olha Zakhozhenko/Anna Vasylchenko, Sofiya Leshyshak, Anastasiya Perets, Oksana Tsymbalist
Music from the production Messe de Chornobyldorf By Opera Aperta, including direction by Roman Grygoriv and Illia Razumeiko and performance by Susanna Karpenko and Marichka Shtyrbulova
VOICE ACTORS
Ihor Aronov Inna Bagoli Lana Biba Alla Dryzhak Elzara Halimova Tonya Smyrnova
Greg Kolpakchi Oksana Kim Nina Khyzhna Grigory Semenchuk Kate Vost
360 PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHIVES
Courtesy of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography, Kharkiv, Ukraine, including:
Viktor and Sergiy Kochetov, “Reinforced concrete monument in front of Vodianoye railway station”, 1992, silver-gelatin print, hand-coloured
Vladyslav Krasnoshchok, from Documentation of War, 2022, lith print, ca. 30x12 cm
Oleg Maliovany, “Where?”, 1978, photographic montage, 40x30 cm
Rodion Prohorenko, “The Kharkiv Mass Media”, 2022, lith print, 18x18,5 cm
Roman Pyatkovka, from Phantoms of the 30s. Holodomor, 1988, gelatin silver print, 94x36 cm
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photos of Lesya Ukrainka Theatre by O.Klymuk, Olia Klymuk, Solfia Soliar & Victoria Soloviuk, Bohdan Yemets,
Photos of Sphere's Performance Interventions by Christy Pashkina
“Traces Of Presence” - Photos from Karkhiv Metro Station by Paval Dorogoy
Drop of Light Yana Leonenko Zysko Sergii Per-Boge Sashk0 Vadvenn Oleg Ivanov
Ruslan K Viktor Andrey Iama Sing Misu Abaca Press Yokov
EMBROIDERY DESIGN
STITCHING ARTIST
Elizaveta Krychkovska
CREATIVE TECH PARTNER
REPRESENTED BY
CREATIVE TECH DESIGN
TECH PROGRAMMING
Suzanna Hurst & Katherine Hurst
INTERACTIVE DRAMATURGY
LOCATION & POSTERS ARTWORK DESIGN
LOCATION & POSTERS GRAPHIC DESIGN
ILLUSTRATIVE MAP
DRAMATURGY
Piotr Armyanovsky & Frank Peschier
TRANSLATION
Anna Halas & Veronika Skliarova
ACTORS FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Dmitry Everdeen Sofia Kirren Amy McAllister
PRODUCING CONSULTANT
PLAYTESTERS
Nicole Behan & Hayley Greggs from Paperwork Theatre
MARKETING & PR
Laura Marie Brown
PRODUCTION PHOTOS OF AUDIO TOUR
Pete Carr
LEAD VENUE PARTNER
Liverpool Everyman
VENUE PARTNERS
Liverpool Philarmonic St Lukes Bombed Out Church News From Nowhere Bluecoat World Museum Liverpool Central Libary Lovelocks Cafe Moorfields Train Station Liverpool Parish Church
WITH THANKS TO
Debo Adebayo Michelle McMahon Lesya Ukrainka Theatre
Neil McPherson Dash Arts Pete Cant
COMMISSIONED BY
Culture Liverpool For The EuroFestival 2023