Soulpepper to Present Punctuate! Theatre's FIRST METIS MAN OF ODESA

Soulpepper will present Punctuate! Theatre’s multi-Dora Award-winning production of FIRST MÉTIS MAN OF ODESA. This celebrated production was the top touring show in the country in 2023, playing in seven cities for over 15,000 people. Based on actual events, this captivating real-life love story is set against the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Award-winning playwright Matthew MacKenzie joins forces with his wife and celebrated Ukrainian actress Mariya Khomutova and director Lianna Makuch to tell the story of a COVID-19 courtship and share intimate perspectives on the impacts of the war in Ukraine. The production returns triumphantly to Toronto to tell this urgent story. Onstage at Soulpepper Theatre, May 8 - May 19, 2024.

Matt and Masha’s love spans continents, but distance can’t tame their passionate connection. After meeting on a theatre research trip in Kyiv, a Métis playwright, and Ukrainian actress spark up a romance that takes them from the beaches of the Black Sea to the banks of the North Saskatchewan River through the onset of a global pandemic and the eruption of a brutal war, plus many moments of joy, including marriage and the birth of their son.

"What I love about this play is that Matt and Mariya’s story is both epic and highly personal. It's a play that shows us the effects of large-scale world events on two people who continue to find joy in some of our darkest times. I'm also thrilled to have Matt MacKenzie back at Soulpepper - Matt was a Baillie Artist-in-Residence for a year, and the work he continues to develop is powerful, speaking to timely issues in ways that are both moving and theatrically exciting.” - Weyni Mengesha, Artistic Director

Living just up Parliament in Cabbagetown, Matt and Mariya are over the moon to be bringing the First Métis Man Of Odesa to Soulpepper. “When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Soulpepper Artistic Director Weyni Mengesha was the first artist to reach out, asking what support Mariya and my family needed”, says Matt. “After the invasion, we felt the pressing need to tell our story and to share with audiences its effects on people in Canada about what is happening in Ukraine,” Mariya says, “Soulpepper offered us space and time to develop our play rapidly, which has allowed us to share our story with thousands of people across the country.” With the fighting in Ukraine still raging, Matt and Mariya urgently wish to share their story with Toronto audiences a second time.

“I want audiences to fall in love with all that Ukraine is, undefined by Russia’s atrocities. Just as Matt and Masha’s love blossomed on the cobblestone streets of Kyiv or the ultra-romantic promenades outside the iconic Odesa Opera House, there is so much about Ukraine with which to fall in love. Like any grand, sweeping love story, this one shows us that not even the greatest obstacles, like the most evil forces of war, can taint true love.” - Lianna Makuch, Director.

Matthew MacKenzie is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta and proud father of Ivan (Eevan, Vanya, Vanichka). Soulpepper credits include First Métis Man of Odesa, and Baillie Artist-In-Residence in 2021.Matthew is the Artistic Director of Punctuate! Theatre and a two-time Dora-winning playwright. He is a founding member of the Pemmican Collective and the Canadian Liaison of the Liberian Dance Troupe. Matt’s plays include Bears, After the Fire, and The Particulars.  

Mariya Khomutova is a Ukrainian actor and playwright who started her theatre studies in Odesa at age 12, and continued her professional development at I.K. Karpenko-Kary Kyiv National University. Since 2020, Mariya has lived in Canada with her family - Canadian playwright Matthew MacKenzie and their son Ivan. Mariya co-wrote and stars in First Métis Man of Odesa, which she has been honoured to share with audiences across Canada. The show won 3 Dora Awards, with Khomutova also nominated for Outstanding Acting. In 2023, the Toronto Star named Mariya one of the ‘Breakthrough Artists of the Year’. Mariya worked in two repertoire theaters in Kyiv and had an extensive career in Ukrainian film and TV. In 2020, Mariya won Best Actor at the Odesa International Film Festival for her performance in the film Two People. Since February 24, 2022, Mariya has concentrated on promoting contemporary Ukrainian playwrights’ voices to the global theatre community.

Lianna Makuch is a Ukrainian Canadian director, playwright, performer, co-artistic Producer of Pyretic Productions, and a producer with Punctuate! Theatre. Lianna has travelled several times to Ukraine to research and develop her plays Barvinok and Alina, which gave her recognition such as the Shevchenko Foundation’s REACH Award, an Edmonton Artist Trust Fund Award, Sterling Award nominations, shortlisted for the Alberta Playwrighting Award, and as a finalist for the Gina Wilkinson Prize. Lianna’s directorial debut, First Métis Man of Odesa, received a Dora Award for Outstanding Direction and has been seen on stages nationwide. Upcoming Directing: A Christmas Carol(Citadel Theatre).

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