16th - 30th November - Research and Writing

Over the past two weeks, the writers have been finalising research on Ukrainian events and traditions. We have also started brainstorming the different rooms which will form the immersive journey. Having designated certain topics to specific rooms and specific rooms to the most interested writers, we began putting pen to paper on our first drafts. Currently, this work is independent to allow for optimal time use.

In the final research meeting, we read up on Holodomor and other events within Ukraine's forced alliance with the USSR. After lots of emotional discussion on the motives and actions of russia during this time, we deliberated on different ways we could portray the severity of these events. Then, reading various articles about the Orange revolution, we gained an understanding of the political and public mess that started the uprising. A lot of the discussion was spent differentiating between Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor Yushchenko, as a lot of us thought that the names of the two were quite similar :)

We began drafting material by listing potential room topics, which encapsulate specific Ukrainian events integral to this story. Then, we divided some 15 rooms among our five writers to develop particular story narratives. Although we all have specific rooms, we still collaborate, sharing ideas and resources, keeping in mind that the goal is to develop a clear and cohesive performance.

Interesting facts:

  • Holodomor  is only recognised as a genocide by few more than a dozen countries, mainly because stalin did everything in his power to prevent it from being called a genocide.

  • Ukraine managed to briefly separate from russia at the beginning of social unrest - 1917-1922. In 1922 Ukraine was forced into the Soviet Union again.

Our Favourite Resource:

A collection of Canadian-Ukrainian Holodomor victims speaking of their experience during the famine. There are videos of them speaking in Ukrainian, along with English transcriptions. This is the uncensored truth of the gruelling events of starvation and famine that is Holodomor.