An ocean away
A new play by Andrei Kureichik
Directed by Vladimir Rovinsky and Lisa Channer
OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 8, 2025
A direct artistic response to the war in Ukraine
AN OCEAN AWAY tells the stories of immigrants from the post-Soviet diaspora living in Minnesota who are watching the war in Ukraine from afar. Based on interviews, news media, and historical documents, Theatre Novi Most collaborated with playwright Andrei Kureichik, a team of actors, dramaturgs, and several Minnesota community members to create this unique new piece.
Photos from our AN OCEAN AWAY workshop in May 2025.
In AN OCEAN AWAY, six actors give their voice to fourteen multi-generational characters from different immigration waves and sides of the Ukrainian community. These true retellings of immigration span from the 1930s to today, some just recently making their difficult transition carrying the horrors of Putin’s war on their shoulders. Their personal stories, thoughts about the war, Ukrainian culture, and the indomitable Ukrainian spirit are the foundation for this new documentary play.
This production is the culminating event of Theatre Novi Most’s past three years of work after their tour of The Ukrainian Words Project and subsequent story circles.
Cast & Creative Team
AN OCEAN AWAY features Sam Bardwell*, Barbra Berlovitz, Kayla Dvorak Feld, Liv Kemp, David Michaeli, and Timothy Thomas* (performing Oct. 30-Nov. 7; Vladimir Rovinsky to perform Nov. 8).
Directed by Theatre Novi Most co-founders Vladimir Rovinsky and Lisa Channer, with stage management by Samantha Fairchild*, sound design by Dan Dukich, projection design by Kathy Maxwell, costume design by Lily Turner, lighting design, scenic & prop coodination by Shirley Runkle, dramaturgy by Wendy Weckworth, and production interns Ani Tonoyan and Ella Eastman-Kiesow.
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association
PERFORMANCE TIMES
Thursday, October 30 at 7:30pm
Friday, October 31 at 7:30pm
Saturday, November 1 at 7:30pm
Sunday, November 2 at 2pm
Tuesday, November 4 at 7:30pm
Thursday, November 6 at 7:30pm
Friday, November 7 at 7:30pm
Saturday, November 8 at 7:30pm
VENUE INFO
The Center for the Performing Arts
3754 Pleasant Ave #220W, Minneapolis, MN, 55409
Although our address is on Pleasant Ave, please enter at the ADA compliant main entrance off of 38th St.
CFPA's west wing is ADA compliant on all floors, with accessible restrooms on the second. The east wing is accessible on all floors via the west wing’s lift and corridors, with an accessible restroom beside the Sunroom.
Theatre Novi Most is thrilled to be partnering with Andrei Kureichik on this project.
Andrei Kureichik is a Belarusian playwright, director, publicist, and civil activist. He is a 2022 World Fellow in the Jackson School of Global Affairs at Yale University. As a writer and director prior to 2020, Andrei was especially beloved for his comedies and suspense thrillers. Following the contested presidential elections and brutal aftermath in Belarus in August 2020, Andrei gained an international following as a political playwright. Forced to flee the country as a member of the Coordination Council working with perceived winner Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s transition team, Andrei leveraged his creative energy to produce the documentary play Insulted. Belarus about the 2020 presidential elections, subsequent protests, and violent crackdown by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus. The play has been translated into 29 languages and received 200 readings and performances across the globe. As a member of the Coordination Council of Belarus, he was awarded the 2020 Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament.
This work is supported by grants from the MAP Fund, the Elmer L. & Eleanor J. Andersen Foundation, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, and is funded in part by the Minnesota Humanities Center with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
Poster design by Sofiia Rovinskaya.