Sickle
Minnesota Premiere by Abby Fenbert, Directed by Vladimir Rovinsky and Lisa Channer, 2025.
SICKLE ULTIMATELY CELEBRATES A WILL TO SURVIVE HISTORY AND TRANSCEND ATTEMPTS AT GENOCIDE.
1933. Four women, Halka, Anna, Iryna and Yasia, attempt to survive at the height of the Holodomor* in their village in Ukraine. The men have already been deported as class traitors for resisting collectivization, and the women maintain discipline as best they can, guarding the land, foraging for food, while attempting not to die or go mad. Into their midst comes Nadya, a fresh-faced member of the Young Communist League, tasked with seeing to it that the party line is toed even if it kills every last villager. When she walks into a pastoral apocalypse, she begins to question everything she believes about the world. Although about a dark history, the play exudes surreal humor and will feature live Ukrainian music.
*Holodomor is the Ukrainian word for the man-made famine orchestrated by the USSR against Ukraine from 1932-1933. Between 3 and 10 million Ukrainians died in this genocidal campaign.
Production photos by Dan Norman
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Iryna | Adelin Phelps*
Anna | Tracey Maloney*
Nadya | Becca Claire Hart*
Halka | Serena Brook*
Yasia | Julia Valen*
Singers, Descendants | Olga Frayman and Johanna Gorman Baer
Understudy | Christian Bardin
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Directed by Theatre Novi Most co-founders Lisa Channer+ and Vladimir Rovinsky
Stage management by Cameron Fleck*
Dramaturgy by Wendy Weckwerth
Technical direction by Zeb Hults
Scenic design by Sarah Bahr^
Assistant scenic design by Kayla Marie Mielke
Scenic painting by Sammy Everden
Property design by Ursula Bowden
Costume design by Andrea M Gross
Assistant costume design by Lily Turner
Lighting design by Rob Perry
Sound design by Dan Dukich
Projection design by Davey T. Steinman
Assistant projection design by Neil Standerwick
Violence choreography by Annie Enneking
Musical direction by Johanna Gorman Baer
Ukrainian Translation by Antonina Yashchuk
Marketing/promotion by Em Adam Rosenberg. -
Abbey Fenbert is a Chicago-based writer. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Boston University and a BA from NYU. Her original plays have been produced and developed by the Matrix Theatre Company, Red Theatre Chicago, Northern Illinois University, the Great Plains Theatre Conference, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, the KNOW Theatre, the Berkshire Playwrights’ Lab, the Vagrancy, the Playwrights Center of Minneapolis and the Playwrights Union of Los Angeles. Her plays Sickle and Child were Finalists for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and her short dramatic works are published in anthologies from Smith & Kraus. Her writing has been featured online at The Toast, McSweeney’s, Catapult, The Offing, HowlRound and American Theatre. She also wrote and stars in the webseries Beck & Clem, a feminist time-travel comedy. Fenbert served in the Peace Corps, Ukraine, 2008-2011, where she worked as an English teacher and youth organizer. She is currently a news editor for The Kyiv Independent.
View the digital program here.
Reviews/press
“A must-see.”
“A throbbing punch to the gut.”
“Spotlights a stellar all-female company of actors whose artistry transports us into the maws of yawning tragedy.”
“The music not only gives Sickle a sense of authenticity but helps to soften one of the toughest but most impactful stories onstage in the Twin Cities this week.”
“The performances are so strong, all of them, that it is worth seeing Sickle for that reason alone…if an award were to be given for "Best Ensemble," this cast would have my vote.”
“Beautifully and devastatingly brought to life by Theatre Novi Most and an incredible cast of five women, baring their souls on stage as they pay homage to the strength and resiliency of the Ukranian people.”
“Please, please, please see this very important show. It’s a definite ‘must-see.’ It was very emotional for me as I thought of my grandparents living (and dying) through the Holodomor, and my family still in Ukraine fighting to keep their independence.
- Audience Member
“Olga Frayman and Johanna Gorman Baer sing in exquisite harmony.”
“The Holodomor is extremely important to understand, because it provides critical historical context and sheds light on the deep trauma experienced by the Ukrainian people— trauma that continues to resonate even 90 years later…It was a complex, emotional, and unforgettable portrayal.”
- Audience Member
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