AN OCEAN AWAY
World Premiere by Andrei Kureichik, Directed by Vladimir Rovinsky and Lisa Channer, Fall 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 Based on interviews, news media, and historical documents, Theatre Novi Most collaborated with playwright Andrei Kureichik, a team of actors, dramaturgs, and several Minnesota community members to create this unique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.
“The music was more than just aesthetic: It was one of the ways the production explored immigrant identity, language preservation and wartime resistance. Every time the cast sang, they carried a part of Ukraine into the theater.”
-Minnesota Daily
Article from MPR: War, exile, resilience: New play centers voices of Minnesota Ukraine community
Article from Minnesota Daily: ‘An Ocean Away’ brings Ukrainian voices to the stage
IN THE PRESS
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Sam Bardwell* | Guitar Player/Blind Deminer
Barbra Berlovitz | Old School Diaspora Girl/American Friend
Kayla Dvorak Feld | Interpreter/Singer/Mother in Search of Justice
Liv Kemp | Teenager in Search of Self-Identification/Stubborn Wife/Costume Designer/Girl
David Michaeli | Son of Old Diaspora/IT Student
Tim Thomas* | Doctor/Volunteer/Foreman with One Arm*Member of Actor’s Equity Association
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Co-Directors | Lisa Channer & Vladimir Rovinsky
Stage Manager | Samantha Fairchild*
Sound Design | Dan Dukich
Costume Design | Lily Turner
Projection Design | Kathy Maxwell
Lighting Design, Scenic & Props Coordination | Shirley Runkel
Dramaturgy | Wendy Weckworth
Production Interns | Ani Tonoyan & Ella Eastman Keisow*Member of Actor’s Equity Association
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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.
Production Photos by Dan Norman.
