Displaying items by tag: Sickle

Written by Abbey Fenbert and directed by Elizabeth Lovelady, Red Theater’s new play Sickle takes on the very little-known subject of Holodomor (or “Golodomor”, Famine-genocide, or “death by hunger”). The story takes place in 1932-33, in a Ukrainian village, one of many Ukrainian villages sacrificed by Stalin to advance his communist agenda of land de-privatization and collectivization. Though initially collectivization was voluntary, eventually all agricultural land was declared Socialist property. Later all farmers (“kulaks”) were ordered to give up their land ownership to the State, merge their land together into collectively operated farms (“kolkhozy”) that would “belong to all”. Farms that refused were given requisition quota of grain that was set at unreasonably high levels. Any grain withholdings were severely punishable by ceasing of property, Siberian labor camps, or death without trial. A law was passed forcing peasants who could not meet their grain quotas to surrender any livestock they had. Collective farms that failed to meet their quotas were placed on "blacklists"; blacklisted communes had no right to trade or to receive deliveries of any kind and became death zones. In January 1933 Ukraine's borders were sealed in order to prevent Ukrainian peasants from fleeing to other republics. Black flags were placed outside of the villages failed to comply with the Soviet Government. Thus, full scale mass murder was underway.

In Sickle, by the time comsomolka (young party activist) Nadya (Katherine Bourne Taylor) arrives in the village, the only remaining inhabitants are four women (Iryna, Anna, Yasia and Halka) dressed in dirty clothes and weak from “skipping meals”, and a baby. Grain is severely rationed, their husbands and family are either dead or in Siberia - there’s really no hope left, but with self-given titles like general, lieutenant and captain, they consider themselves soldiers and theirs is organized resistance. Comsomolka Nadia had been sent by the Party to investigate why the village is under-performing; she accuses them of cheating and keeping more grain than they claim they had. Nadia is from a city and knows next to nothing about farming, but she’s good with numbers, and she’s a really good Party dog.

Wonderful acting, most notably by Christine Vrem-Ydstie who plays General Yryna, and Katherine Bourne Taylor who plays Nadya, and witty dialogue make the play very enjoyable, despite its grim subject matter. The tiny space that is Strawdog theater seems like the perfect venue, giving the story the layer of intimacy for all five [well developed] characters to relate to each other.

The play is a brave undertaking, considering the authentically Ukrainian terminology used that’s unfamiliar to most American theater-goers. But it is a poignant story that needs to be told. There was a terrible time in the history of Ukraine when, by some accounts, nearly 12 million people were exterminated, yet very few people know about that.

Red Theater's production of Sickle is being performed at Strawdog Theatre through July 29th. For more show info visit https://redtheater.org/.