Mariupol is a far more intricate drama than one might expect. Since February 2022, the city’s name has been associated with war, devastation and death as a result of the Russian army’s siege. Against this backdrop, it is striking to see party decorations on stage, hear light-hearted dance music, and watch the clumsy flirtation between our hero and heroine. Is this going to be a romantic story, will they be separated by war? The play resists clichés and cheap political slogans, instead revealing the complexity of human relationships, the qualities people show, and the choices they make under extreme circumstances.
Galina, a Moscow girl who dreams of becoming a teacher of Russian literature, has a seaside fling with Steve, a Ukrainian Navy officer. Their encounter is no different from countless other romances: they dance, they laugh, they share their dreams and goals, and they revel in a magical moment together. Like many people, they eventually go their separate ways: they are married to other people, live their own lives, run into each other with only a fleeting memory of their brief connection. What is special here? One might ask. The answer lies in the fact that even a temporary bond allows them to see each other as complex individuals, more real than the simplified labels of “Russian” and “Ukrainian,” of “us” and “them.”
Mariupol is carefully constructed by director John Retallack, and reaches its climax in the final scene, set in heavily bombed Mariupol, the beloved hometown of our hero. The powerful performances of Oliver Gomm (Steve) and Nathalie Barclay (Galina) bring extraordinary depth to this moment. Trembling, restrained and struggling with personal loss and grief, they try to understand each other’s choices while holding on to hope in a ruined land.
Katia Haddad’s script is deeply empathetic and finely crafted, full of suspense that is only resolved in the final moments of the play. Mariupol is an unmissable story about humanity’s capacity to support and understand one another, even when it seems impossible.
