Russian attack on the Mariupol Drama Theater, three years ago. A flashmob in memory of the victims, organized in Chisinau
It has been three years since the Russian attack on the Mariupol Drama Theater, where approximately 600 people were killed. In this context, the actors of the Mariupol theater are on tour in the Republic of Moldova, performing the play "Drama from Mariupol" in Cahul and Balti. Today, they arrived in Chisinau, where, before they went on stage, they organized a flashmob in front of the Teatrul fara Nume.
The actors from Mariupol together with those from the Teatrul fara Nume painted the word "Дiти" - children - in white and lit candles. Afterwards, they held a minute of silence for the victims of Mariupol and chanted "Glory to Ukraine!".
Vera Lebedinskaya is an actress at the Mariupol Theater. She was inside the theater at the time of the attack and says she went through moments of horror.
"On March 16, at the time of the attack, I was in the theater; I was almost dead. Should I thank them for this? I don't know what to tell those people, what's on their minds and how will they live on? I lived in the theater for two weeks. Currently, we are working in the Uzhhorod theater," said Vera Lebedinskaya.
The theater's actors want to tell the whole world from the stage how they survived the Russian attack. They hope to return to the Mariupol theater one day.
"We thank the Donetsk administration, the Transcarpathian administration, the Ministry Culture that we have a shelter where we can continue our creation, in Uzhgorod. We are working to expand our repertoire, we continue to donate, to support the theater without a roof”, said Olena Bila, actress.
The actors from the Tearrul fara Nume do not exclude that they could stage shows together with their colleagues from Mariupol.
“We will maintain a close relationship and are already thinking about a joint co-production with the theater from Mariupol and not only, maybe also our colleagues from Târgovişte. We will try to see each other more often, to do shows”, said Nicu Țărnă, director of the Teatru fara Nume.
“We are honoured to have our colleagues from Mariupol for the second time at our theatre, the Republic of Moldova is honored because we host them, as we did three years ago, with open arms”, said Galina Lazarenco, actress.
"The Drama of Mariupol" is a confession of the actors, who were in the theater building, used as a shelter for over a thousand civilians, including children, during the Russian bombing on March 16, 2022. A few days before the attack, the locals of Mariupol wrote the word "" DETI"—children—in Russian in front and behind the theater, so that the message could be seen from above and the theater would not be hit. However, the Russians dropped two bombs on the building.
