A woman with long dark hair sits at a dressing-room vanity, resting her chin on one hand while looking toward a mirror framed with round light bulbs. Her face appears in the large mirror and again in a small tabletop mirror inside an open makeup case. The counter is covered with makeup brushes, bottles, jewellery, hairpins, a mug, and other personal items on a white cloth. Bouquets of flowers fill both sides of the space, clothing hangs on a rack in the background, and a pair of pale high-heeled shoes sits on the right side of the vanity.
Photo of Amy Matysio by Kirk Lisaj
Photo of Amy Matysio by Kirk Lisaj

The Ghosts of Mariupol

A Human Cargo and Royal Manitoba Theatre Company Co-production in Association with Crow’s Theatre and Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre (Mariupol)
Written & Directed by Christopher Morris

World Premiere
Apr 20, 2027 - May 9, 2027
Studio Theatre

Theatre in the aftermath of catastrophe.

As Ukraine enters the fifth year of Russia’s ongoing invasion, Christopher Morris presents a powerful new work inspired by the artists who survived the March 2022 bombing of Ukraine’s historic Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre in Mariupol.

The play follows two actresses, best friends whose lives are forever changed by the bombing. One collaborates with Russians in the rebuilt Mariupol Theatre. The other creates theatre for injured Ukrainian soldiers in Western Ukraine. Both are haunted by the choices they made that day to survive.

The Ghosts of Mariupol confronts impossible questions about survival, collaboration, truth, and resistance. It asks: when war shatters moral clarity, what's the true cost of survival? And how do you hold on to yourself when war has changed you forever?

Featuring: Amy Matysio. Additional cast to be announced.

In looking over Morris’s nearly 20 years of running Human Cargo, the best way I can describe what he does is that he takes on politically charged and fraught subjects in an effort to humanize their dilemmas and conflicts.

Jonathan Garfinkel, Arcade, Koffler Arts

Artistic Team

Amy Matysio

Christopher Morris

Playwright & Director

Sponsors

Crow's Theatre Production
Residency Program Sponsors