More than three years after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the question of what – and when – could finally bring an end to that war remains as urgent as it was at the beginning. Eros i Psi / Eros and Psy seeks to answer that question through the voices of Ukrainian artists who, drawing on Greek mythology as well as science, philosophy, and art history, attempt to free themselves from despair and hopelessness. Combining elements of performance, documentary theatre, and drama, they offer a contemporary reinterpretation of the story of Psyche – the goddess and embodiment of the human soul – and Eros, for whose love she agreed to undertake the most difficult labours. They have also reimagined the myth through stories of wartime displacement. As the director Kostiantyn Vasiukov explains, “Our Psyche, in modern circumstances, transforms the mythical story and continues it on her own terms”. On stage, the role of Psy (Psyche) is shared by two remarkable young actresses – Kateryna Vasiukova (Silesian Theatre in Katowice) and Nina Batovska (well known to Kraków audiences for her vibrant performance as Eliza in Bartosz Szydłowski’s Czerwone i czarne / The Red and the Black). In Eros and Psy, the actresses also tell their own stories – of leaving Ukraine, finding work in Poland, being “associated with war,” even though they are ready to use their art to tell other tales too.

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Production in Polish, with Ukrainian subtitles.

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Photo by Magda Hebda