Now entering its final week, the Women’s Voices celebration has brought a variety of shows to West London’s Playground Theatre, and last night’s was An Evening of Beautiful Music, an emotional love letter to war-torn Ukraine.
Composer and pianist Alla Sirenko, who is based in the UK, curated an hour of music, including three of her own pieces. Opening with “Woman in War” this evening celebrated the women at home and on the front line in Ukraine.
Most of the evening presented arias sung by Lyubov Kachala, renowned soprano of the Lviv Opera House, making her UK debut. A programme of well-known pieces alongside Ukranian songs started with “Ava Maria” while projected photographs of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Mariupol showed the beauty of a country pre- bombardment.
Kachala is a beautiful singer capable of great sensivity. To hear familiar pieces from Carmen, The Marriage of Figaro, and a Polish song derived from Chopin’s Étude Op. 10, No. 3 (reminding us of the fortitude of past women held prisoner) was a privilege.
For Sirenko, women, children, warriors, and wives are the fuel on which Ukraine survives. Her piano piece “Talk to a Star” references the practice of memorialising fallen soldiers in Lviv churches. Another piece offers hope for the return of children held hostage in Russia.
The evening also showcased Sirenko’s opera The Golden Penguin (which played at the Royal Opera House) and its fairytale flight for freedom. A potent message indeed.
The Women’s Voices Festival is a very ambitious programme, curated by Naomi Sorkin for this jewel of fringe venues, with a number of fascinating performances still to come.
This includes a reading of Gloria starring Stockard Channing on 23 Mar, plays examining issues such as the occupation of Gaza (16 Mar), Black Lives Matter (17 Mar), and the return of Bound By Theatre’s exploration of Hildegard Von Bingen (20-21 Mar).
There is also artwork with The Divine Feminine, an exhibition of paintings by Aimee Birnbaum situated in the bar-cafe area.
You can read about the full festival on the Playground Theatre website.