The musical Freedom Letters in memory of Amelina premiered in Ireland

The creative team created a poetic-musical composition about the struggle for independence of Ukraine and Ireland. The play is dedicated to the murdered Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina. Lyubov Yakymchuk wrote about it on her Facebook page.

The musical is set in the early 20th century. The plot is based on the biographies of Valeria O’Connor-Vilinska, a Ukrainian writer with Irish roots, and Constance Markievicz, an Irish woman married to Casimir Markievicz, a Polish playwright who grew up in Ukraine. Both women were imprisoned for their revolutionary activities. Their story is told in an imaginary correspondence.

Ukrainian writer Lyubov Yakymchuk worked on the libretto about Valeria O’Connor-Vilinska. Valeria was a Ukrainian writer with Irish roots, playwright, translator of Béranger, Anatole France, and Victor Hugo, as well as a political activist and feminist. She was also the sister-in-law of the composer Mykola Lysenko.

Olesya Zdorovetska directed, composed, and sang in the musical. She received the Irish Markievicz Award for developing this project.

Part of the libretto about Constance Markievicz, an Irish revolutionary and feminist, was written by the poet and playwright Mary Branley from Ireland. Constance was connected to Ukraine not only through her husband. She was the author of the Irish rebel anthem, which she set to the tune of a Ukrainian folk song.

“People in the audience cried, people reacted to sounds, words, they recognized the stories of two women, a Ukrainian and an Irish woman, the stories of their families, their countries,” Lyubov Yakymchuk described the audience’s impressions of the play on her Facebook page.

They plan to present the musical in different cities of Ireland, and later in Ukraine.

As a reminder, Liubov Yakymchuk is the author of the collection Apricots of Donbas, which was nominated for the Emerging Europe Awards.

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Photo: Facebook page of Lyubov Yakymchuk