The director of the Elysium theater-circus in Kiev: “We on stage to demonstrate the strength of the Ukrainian people ‘

“We continue to perform, with even more strength of mind, thinking of our homeland and our people at war. Going on stage gives us the strength and courage to continue, the worst and darkest moments are those in which we do not work and then the mind and thought inevitably go to what is happening in Ukraine and in our Kiev, to the scenes and voices that we see and hear on TV “. This is what Aleksander Sakharov, executive director of the company of the Circus-Theater Elysium in Kiev confesses – joined by AdnKronos in Parma, a stage of the tour that started in early February from the Brancaccio theater in Rome – when there was still no war in Ukraine – and that will take them for three days from 8 to 10 April at the Arcimboldi theater in Milan and then in Switzerland at the end of May, for the show ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Sakharov, 35, married and father of a child, managed to reunite with his wife and daughter, who arrived in Italy just ten days ago, passing by car from Ukraine to Poland and from there to Germany and then in flight from Dresden to Milan. “I with my wife and my daughter are now in a town near Milan”. All the other members of the company, formed in 2015 and made up of about thirty members, half of whom are men, aged between 20 and 32, “are in Emilia, the first region that has taken steps to host refugees Ukrainians. We immediately understood – he says – that the situation was precipitating, even before the Russian invasion, especially through direct testimonies from relatives and friends on the phone and on social media “. Aleksander Sakharov emphasizes:” We want to show the world who we are Ukrainians, of which art and which culture we carry within Europe, our common homeland. But performing in theaters here in Italy also allows us to be able to allocate the proceeds to the collection of money that can be sent to Ukraine in support of the people, out of solidarity; perhaps some of us would also have preferred to go to fight, but objectively we are more useful that way. And the applause we receive in Italian theaters, the standing ovation at the moment ends. where we wave our yellow and blue national flag is truly moving and strengthens us. We feel that Italians and Italy are in solidarity with us, with our people, with our country. “But what solution do you see for your country?” I’m honest: I don’t have the faintest idea – admits the Circus director Theater Elysium in Kiev – I can only hope that this war will end as soon as possible and that we can finally begin to rebuild what has been destroyed; and I am not referring only to houses, roads, bridges but also to the social fabric and moods of people. We are all disgusted by this conflict, which is not the fault or responsibility of the Russian people. But we were all very impressed by President Zelenski’s attitude and courage, by his refusal to leave the country and to go to safety but to stay there; and by the resistance that all the Ukrainian people, each for his part, are putting up. I am really proud, sadly proud, for this test “. (By Enzo Bonaiuto)