Is there a War inside of me?
Bunker Cabaret is the current performance of Hooligan Art Community, which took its
starting point in the bomb shelters of Kyiv. Combining music, poetry, dance and film, this work is a powerful exploration of love versus totalitarianism, as well as the personal conflicts involved in creating art in wartime. The performance, ironic, raw, funny and devastating, starkly reveals the artists’ individual experiences of the war while conveying a shared humanity in moments of connection between artists and audience.
“Powerful, urgent, necessary theatre.”
-Dominic Cavendish, lead theatre critic of The Daily Telegraph
Hooligan Art Community is an independent theatre company of Ukrainian, German and
British artists, established in Kyiv in 2019. They make performances in non-traditional
spaces that explore the dynamic relationship between actor and audience. The group has worked entirely outside of the state theatre system, creating work that advocates for freedom of expression and equality. On 24 February 2022, the full-scale Russian invasion brought war to all of Ukraine. The company’s work was disassembled overnight. In May 2022 the company came together again remotely: women from the company travelled to a residency in Germany, but two male actors of the company remained in Ukraine, restricted by law from leaving the country. In spite of this, the male actors worked together in a bomb-shelter in Kyiv, developing new scenes which would become the inspiration for Bunker Cabaret.
Bunker Cabaret is presented in a new version for HOP!fest 2025, created and performed inside the former bingo-hall.
Written and created by Hooligan Art Community:
Performer, Marusia Ionova
Performer, Simeon Kyslyi
Performer, Stanislav Mustaiev
Director, Peter Cant
Movement and Dramaturgical Consultant, Mathis Kleinschnittger
Lighting designer, Natalka Perchyshyna
Art director, Liubov Sliusareva
Company manager, Catherine Lake
Produced by Peter Cant and Catherine Lake
With thanks to Mahogany Opera, Impossible Producing, Andrea Ferran