Three disabled Ukrainian veterans walk into an Irish bar is more than a punchline, it’s the premise of a unique bilingual play to be staged on Friday night.
The Last Pint is a tragicomic play set in a pub where Irish locals, Ukrainian refugees and war veterans confront each other’s perspectives.
It is made unique still by the presence of three real Ukrainian veterans who play themselves.
The play’s co-author Yurii Vietkin was a retired Ukrainian major who re-enlisted after the Russian invasion in February 2022 to defend his home city of Chernihiv, 140km from Kyiv.
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On March 5th, 2022, he lost his left leg in an attack which killed one Ukrainian soldier and injured another. The city was critical in the early stages of the war in stopping a Russian invasion of Kyiv. Chernihiv was granted hero status by the Ukrainian government later in 2022.
A psychologist, he founded the Chernihiv Veterans Theatre Company two years ago to help Ukrainian veterans use art to process the trauma they experienced. Based in Ukraine, he travels around Europe to reach out to veterans like himself.
“The human is a creature that can get used to anything. The hardest part was for my body to adjust. It was important for me to be able to stand on my two legs (and one artificial) and keep walking,” he said.
“After the physical rehabilitation, the psychological rehabilitation began. I returned to the stage, performing as an actor with a prosthesis, as an example to other wounded veterans not to be ashamed of their physical injuries.”
His childhood friend Oleksandar Vasylenko has been fighting the Russians since 2014. He is classified as disabled because of the numerous injuries he suffered in defending his own country.
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Ruslan Ivanov worked in film and television before the war. As a volunteer, he lost his left arm in a fight near Bakhmut in November 2023. “I stood up to defend Kyiv because I could not do otherwise. Taking part in performances is powerful training for memory, emotional control and complete psychological reset,” he said.
“Art restores the feeling of a full, meaningful life.”
Despite their personal sacrifices and after four years of war, they said the Ukrainian resolve to prevail has not wavered. “The world has united against one point of evil and that is Russia,” said Vasylenko.
Their wives will also be playing themselves in The Last Pint.
The play centres around an incident in a pub where Ukrainian veterans and the Irish landlord find a common cause in the early spring festivals of Styrtennia – The Meeting – in Ukraine and the old Celtic festival Imbolc. These are symbolised by the burning of the miniature straw man, Didukh, and by the presence of the St Brigid’s Cross.
The play is co-directed by Elina Herasymchuk, a Ukrainian theatre director living in Dublin since 2022. She is the founder and director of CU Theater, Ireland’s first Ukrainian theatre company.
[ Ukraine marks four years of war with Russia amid questions over western supportOpens in new window ]
The other codirector is Yevheniia Podlypenko who received her professional training at the Kyiv Municipal Academy of Variety and Circus Arts.
“It’s such a honour to work with real heroes. They are amazing and they are so much fun to be around,” Podlypenko said.
The performance has been facilitated by the Ukrainian volunteers of Ireland and the County Louth Cultural Initiative programme. Another party to the performance is the Aon Ardan project founded last year to facilitate Ukrainian veterans rehabilitating in Ireland.
The theatre company personnel met the Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland Gerasko Larysa at a ceremony in Dublin earlier in the week.
The Last Pint takes place at the Riasc Centre in Swords at 8pm on Friday night.
