2 On "The Magic of Light"

   Yara’s new theatre piece “The Magic of Light” was created by director Virlana Tkacz, performer and designer Tom Lee and master bandura player Julian Kytasty. The performance combines theatre, traditional folk music, projections and puppets to tell the story of the first concert that introduced Ukrainian epic songs and the bandura to an international urban audience in 1875. One hundred fifty years ago this performance featured drawn images projected on a magic lantern while the epic was sung. The beautiful music, ancient texts and poetry (presented both in English and Ukrainian), plus Tom Lee’s mesmerizing visuals, propel this story of art that illuminates a lost past, sees the harsh reality of the present and looks towards a brighter future. 

   The bandura is the national instrument of Ukraine. It is large string instrument held on the lap of the performer and is related to a harp or lute. Originally, it was the accompanying instrument for epic songs performed by an itinerant blind singer known as a “kobzar.” Ethnographers started collecting these songs in the 19th century, popularizing the texts and eventually the instrument. 

   Yara’s “The Magic of Light” begins at concert that first introduced the epic songs and the bandura to the international urban audience. The epic singer was Ostap Versai (1803-1890), often described as the last bard in the Homeric tradition. Julian Kytasty, who performs in our piece, has said that the epic songs of Versai, opened for him the deep tradition of the bandura and the possibility of creating a new music for this instrument. Julian, widely acknowledged greatest bandura master today, will perform the songs Ostap Veresai in our theater piece, as well as his own music. 

   In the 1875 concert the epic singer sang of three brothers fleeing captivity. Two had horses and one was on foot. Our bilingual text is translated into English by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps. This epic poses the questions of mercy and survival, as well as the importance of seeing the difference between truth and lies. The eternal parable of this epic is a vehicle that allows us to look at a moment 150 years ago and let it speak to us today. 

   At the center of “The Magic of Light” is the artist who drew the images projected at the concert. Porfiry Martynovych (1856-1933) was then a very promising art student at the Imperial Art Academy, with amazing drawing skills, who becomes totally fascinated with the ancient songs and their performers. For the epic concert Martynovych creates images for the new media of the time --  magic lantern projectors lit with limelight. Tom Lee portrays the artist. He is both an actor and a master of many different puppetry traditions, as well as a leading American video projection designer. Tom’s recent puppetry piece “Sounding the Resonant Path” was called “mesmerizing” by the New York Times. The reviewer added “There is, at show’s end, a clear and lingering consciousness of being minuscule in the universe, and terribly, beautifully human.” Tom’s puppetry, design and drawings for the magic lantern encourage us to see a vision of the past and to dream of a brighter future.

   Yara’s “The Magic of Light” is performed in English and Ukrainian, easily understood by all. The English translations are by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps who last year were the finalist for the PEN America Poetry Translation Award for their book “How Fire Descends: New and Selected Poetry by Serhiy Zhadan,” published by Yale University Press. A poem by Serhiy Zhadan becomes the final song in show.

    Director Virlana Tkacz has created 40 theatre pieces with Yara Arts Group that premiered at La MaMa in New York and performed internationally. Yara was founded by a diverse group of artists in 1990s and creates original theatre pieces by bringing together drama, poetry, song, historical materials and chants rooted in Ukraine, Central Asia, Siberia and Japan. Because of the diversity of our artists , we have privileged access to magnificent texts from overlooked cultures. We strive to use the language of experimental theatre to break down interpretive barriers among cultures, histories and languages.
   "The Magic of Light" is an original theatre piece created by Yara Arts Group, a resident company at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York. It was made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as the Self-Reliance Foundation and the numerous friends of Yara Arts Group.​​​