AN OCEAN AWAY is a direct artistic response to the war in Ukraine. It tells the unique stories of immigrants and refugees from the post-Soviet diaspora living in Minnesota who are watching the war in Ukraine from afar.

The Museum of Russian Art welcomes Theatre Novi Most for a staged reading of AN OCEAN AWAY, by Andrei Kureichik in collaboration with Theatre Novi Most, directed by Vladimir Rovinsky and Lisa Channer.

Six actors give their voice to fourteen multi-generational characters from different immigration waves and sides of the Ukrainian community. These true retellings of immigration span from the 1930s to today, some just recently making their difficult transition carrying the horrors of Putin’s war on their shoulders. Their personal stories, thoughts about the war, Ukrainian culture, and the indomitable Ukrainian spirit are the foundation for this new documentary play.

Based on interviews, news media, and historical documents, Theatre Novi Most collaborated with playwright Andrei Kureichik, a team of actors, dramaturgs, and several Minnesota community members to create this piece. Ukrainians across Minnesota — soldiers, doctors, mothers, fathers, children, writers, scholars, recent immigrants and Ukrainian Americans alike — shared their stories and current experiences. This is the resulting play.

Developed in collaboration with playwright Andrei Kureichik since January 2025, An Ocean Away made its Minneapolis premiere in Fall 2025.

Creative Team

Playwright: Andrei Kureichik, in collaboration with Theatre Novi Most
Directors: Vladimir Rovinsky and Lisa Channer
Cast: Sam Bardwell*, Barbra Berlovitz, Pearce Bunting*, Lisa Channer, Liv Kemp, and David Michaeli
Graphic Design: Sofiia Rovinskaya

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association

About the Playwright

Andrei Kureichik is a Belarusian playwright, director, publicist, and civil activist. He is a 2022 World Fellow in the Jackson School of Global Affairs at Yale University. As a writer and director prior to 2020, Andrei was especially beloved for his comedies and suspense thrillers. Following the contested presidential elections and brutal aftermath in Belarus in August 2020, Andrei gained an international following as a political playwright. Forced to flee the country as a member of the Coordination Council working with perceived winner Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s transition team, Andrei leveraged his creative energy to produce the documentary play Insulted. Belarus about the 2020 presidential elections, subsequent protests, and violent crackdown by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus. The play has been translated into 29 languages and received 200 readings and performances across the globe. As a member of the Coordination Council of Belarus, he was awarded the 2020 Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament.

About Theatre Novi Most

BRAVE PHYSICALITY. EXCELLENT WRITING. INTERNATIONAL AESTHETICS.

Theatre Novi Most was founded in 1998 by Lisa Channer and Vladimir Rovinsky. We create plays and performances that conjure new theatrical languages to build bridges across artistic and cultural barriers. Since 2007 we have made our home in Minneapolis.

Our process combines global theatre and performance traditions with integration of story through exquisite writing. Since our founding, we have produced nearly 20 new plays and reimagined classic texts. Theatre Novi Most is a member of the Network of Ensemble Theatres.

For more information, visit www.theatrenovimost.org.

Monday, November 16 | 7:00–9:00 PM

TICKETS: $20 General Admission | $15 TMORA Members

Doors open at 6:00 PM. All galleries and TMORA Shop will be open for your enjoyment prior to the staged reading. Free parking is located across the street in the Creekside Church parking lot. The staged reading will take place in the Main Gallery and will include an intermission. Seating is general admission.

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by grants from the MAP Fund, the Elmer L. & Eleanor J. Andersen Foundation, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, and is funded in part by the Minnesota Humanities Center with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.