BRIDGES OF VOICES

What happens to an artist’s voice in a time of crisis?

Bridges of Voices is a multilingual solo performance created and performed by Ukrainian actress, singer, director and performance artist Mariia Samoilenko.

Through spoken word, live vocals, music and projected visuals, Mariia takes the audience from childhood and artistic life in Ukraine through war and displacement to a new life in Denmark and encounters across Europe, particularly in Wales. Moving between English, Ukrainian and Danish, the performance explores how memory, different cultures and human encounters transform an artist’s voice — and what that voice can mean in times of crisis.

Developed through international artistic research, including an R&D stage in Wales in collaboration with Dirty Protest Theatre and supported by the Nordic Culture Fund, Bridges of Voices now continues its journey in Aarhus.

“Congratulations Mariia on your Bridges of Voices script. The audience on the night of the performance in Wrexham responded with generosity to your singing and your authentic performance of your lived experience which was compelling and entertaining. I look forward to seeing what happens next with your development of the script and wish you all the best wishes for a successful future run.”
— Catherine Paskell, Artistic Director, Dirty Protest Theatre

“It was a pleasure to get to see Bridge of Voices in Wrexham earlier this year; Mariia performs from her soul upwards. Getting to see another culture – particularly an unfamiliar one – through its songs is an opener that not many people get, and Mariia was a fantastic guide through her cultural repertoire.”
— Iwan Berry, Poet, audience member