Josephine Burton directs the world premiere of The Reckoning at Arcola Theatre, a powerful new play co-written with Anastasiia Kosodii. This production delves into the human stories behind the Russian war in Ukraine, blending storytelling with movement and music.
The play features live preparation of a traditional Ukrainian dish on stage, adding a unique sensory experience for the audience. Burton’s direction promises to bring these real-life testimonies to vivid life, offering a compelling and immersive theatre experience.
The Reckoning runs from 29 May to 28 June 2025 at Arcola Theatre.
You’re bringing The Reckoning to Arcola Theatre. What can you tell us about the show?
The Reckoning is part documentary, part-food demo and part-immersive experience – theatre that brings the stories of ordinary extraordinary heroes to the stage. It’s an encounter between two strangers, a journalist and her interview subject, a security guard who has an unbelievable story of heroism and survival in Ukraine to tell.
Our play shares his amazing story, which is taken verbatim from a real life transcript, the journalist’s own memories and those of other subjects she’s met and how the two find a solace and a connection through their conversation. At its heart, The Reckoning is about the power of testimony—about what it means to tell your story, to be truly heard, and to bear witness to history as it unfolds.
How did you and Anastasiia Kosodii collaborate on writing this play?
Almost 2 years ago, Anastasiia and I were given access to hundreds of testimonies gathered by The Reckoning Project, taken from witnesses and survivors of the war in Ukraine. The Reckoning Project use the testimonies to collate evidence for the International Criminal Courts but they want to hold the Russians accountable not just in court of law but in the court of public opinion. Anastasiia and I read a great deal of these testimonies.
Anastasiia in the language in which they were given. I read them in translation in English. And then we went through a process of refinement, discussing which stories we felt would be most strong to be staged and how we might incorporate the verbatim material. And then we spoke to the journalists who gathered the testimonies as we realised how important they are to the process.
They create the atmosphere which enables people to share what happened to them. They bear witness to what happened to these people. And then in some ways their interviewees stories become theirs, too. And so slowly we developed the script, finding ways to incorporate the verbatim documentary material at the same time as making a work of theatre which, we hope, will be dramatically compelling.
What was the inspiration behind incorporating live preparation of a traditional Ukrainian dish on stage?
To be honest, I try to bring food and drink into most shows that I make! Dash’s last two shows, Dido’s Bar and Middlemarch, both had bars within the staging! But in The Reckoning, food has a really distinct purpose. We’re telling stories that are sometimes bleak and hard to hear. And I was keen to offset the darkness with something homely and comforting.
My brilliant friend and sometime collaborator, Olia Hercules is a Ukrainian chef based in London who has worked with me to weave in the preparing of a Ukrainian summer salad into the script. The colours of the tomatoes and the cucumbers and the aroma of the cut dill will fill the Arcola with a sense of summer promise and new life. Plus, there might be a little treat at the end for our audiences.
How do you approach directing a play that blends storytelling with movement and music?
We are all, unfortunately, so used to seeing short clips and images on social media and listening to interviews of harrowing stories. I wanted The Reckoning to do something different – to transport our audiences into an experience which was more than the verbatim transcripts.
To bring the stories to life, to humanise them for our audiences to find empathy and connection with the characters, but also to provide abstraction that can offset the reality of the transcripts. The brilliant composer Anton Baibakov and movement director Josie Daxter will help us do both, to underscore and contrast. And also to help us transition between worlds – from the black box of the theatre where we meet Olga and Sam, our Ukrainian actors playing versions of themselves into the naturalistic world of our protagonist’s kitchen and into his memories of the past.
Can you share any insights into the testimonies and real events that inspired The Reckoning?
It was incredibly moving to read the testimonies. I didn’t expect that. Anastasiia and I prepared ourselves for the awfulness, the cruelty and tragedy.. and worked with the wonderful therapist and well being practitioner to support us emotionally as we read them. BUT there was so much more than bare facts and evidence for the courts.
The transcripts included incredible insights from the survivors about how they managed to get through the night when held in detention, what they felt about justice and about the small acts of unexpected kindness. I asked one of the analysts who works with the algorithms which picks up the key bits of data for the lawyers, about this. He was Syrian and keen to prosecute the Russians both for their actions in Ukraine and as for what had been inflicted in Syria.
He explained that it was for this reason that they needed to work with journalists to gather evidence. Journalists care. They have empathy. They listen for hours and create the space and time where the witnesses can share. He explained that he couldn’t read the testimonies as the words make memories in my brain. Nataliya Gumenyuk, one of the key journalists who inspired our production and who personally gathered so many of the testimonies explained “We cry with them when they cry.”
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see The Reckoning?
Come for an evening that engages all the senses – to feel the stories, to connect with the people behind them, and to experience something that is alive, immediate, and real. There’s something powerful about seeing real people on stage, hearing real voices, and witnessing lives unfold in front of you. It’s about love, laughter, and human connection as much as it is about politics and justice. With music, food, and conversation, I hope that The Reckoning will become an experience. One that will move you, challenge you, and, hopefully, stay with you long after you leave the theatre.
