Donbas review – a Ukrainian family fractures on the brink of invasion

Olga Braga’s stark new play, the winner of Theatre503’s international playwriting award, offers a grim portrait of war in Ukraine. The production clings to the moments before Russia’s full-scale invasion of the Donbas in 2022, conjuring a bleak microcosm of conflict inside a cramped Ukrainian home.

Already high tensions within the household rise as the threat of Russian occupation creeps closer. Jack Bandeira plays Sashko, recently released from a Russian jail, desperate not to give an inch to the invaders; he clashes with his coiled father Seryoga (Philippe Spall), who is willing to stick to Russian rules if it means getting to live.

Director Anthony Simpson-Pike makes ambitious use of the small stage, and Niall McKeever’s set feigns simplicity only to rip itself impressively apart when invasion strikes. Small tendernesses stand out too, as when Sashko asks his father’s Moldovan girlfriend Marianca (Sasha Syzonenko) to teach him how to pronounce her name and their shoulders sink into each other in a rare moment of intimacy.

Ukraine, Donbas

donbas, ukraine, russia, olga braga, theatre503, theatre, play review, anthony simpson-pike, war drama, sashko