A word over a beer…
People need to talk. Talk to each other, say it out loud, speak about everything and nothing at the same time, tell each other about their problems, joys, fears… Oftentimes anyone who is willing to listen is enough. Or not even that. The fact itself, that there just is someone there, is enough. Or we take a piece of paper and a pen, just as the members of the Bu-Ba-Bu group did, and we write about our twisted world and life. The poems and artistic texts of the literary and performative movement Bu-Ba-Bu therefore become the template for the Ukrainian production Псяча буда (Dog House). These young actors from the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv confess the bitterness of the reality we live in.
The premises of Marta Studio perfectly fitted the requirements of this chamber play. The bar in the foyer evoked a cabaret feeling right from the arrival at the venue, and after the hall another bar awaited. A red neon sign reading “BAR”, a counter, a band in the back corner of the stage, glass bottles everywhere. Every aspect of the scenography said that we had just entered a secluded business that usually doesn't welcome many customers. This feeling was authentically supported by the pianist who was creating an instrumental background and by a bartender leaning onto the counter. Both of them were on the stage before the arrival of the first viewers. Subsequently, the remaining characters appeared in the bar. White faces in black and white costumes, with various emotions written in their eyes. These people discussed critical social topics, life’s sorrows, and controversial issues in a cabaret using poetry and songs. Unfulfilled love, violence, injustice… Our whole life is a striving to be understood, find oneself, fit in. And the Dog house is a place for everyone. Wanderers, unfortunates, outcasts... A holy image on one side of the stage and a Buddhist tapestry on the other illustrate the possibility of refuge for absolutely everyone. Broken and angry people are not afraid to speak out loud and they share their most burning opinions with the public via the red phone.
The students in this production passionately transferred their emotions into the poetic texts of Ukrainian authors. The capability to humorously react to the audience and surrounding distracting stimuli without abandoning the intended level, and the subsequent continuation of the interrupted verses, also speaks to their acting abilities. The most impressive aspect was the vocal skill of the actors, which they showed in several polyphonic songs, and their ability to play multiple instruments (such as the piano, violin, contrabass, drums, accordion).
The play didn’t follow any specific story line. It relied on the power of the statement and the building up of poignant emotion, which - despite the difficulty of understanding it - cuts to the bone. Since the creators targeted topics that are known to almost every person to some extent, the result, in the form of compassion, was predictable. In the Dog house, for a split moment, everyone could feel accepted, understood, and not judged.
