SpaceBridge
Conceived and Directed by Irina Kruzhilina
Jan 7 -11 2025, Under The Radar Festival
SpaceBridge is a workshop program and a live theater piece which brings refugee children from Russia together with their American counterparts to build lifelong friendships while coming to terms with their differences.
The performance tracks the struggles of children, now living in New York’s shelter system, whose families were forced to escape Russia and enter the US through Mexico because of their antiwar views.
Americans are painfully familiar with the suffering and displacement of Ukrainian families and children. The plight of Russian children, however, whose families have also been forced to leave their homes to seek refuge from persecution, is seldom discussed. It’s been my observation that at the moment Russians in America, children or adults, refugees or otherwise, are often regarded with suspicion. Many of the young people I’ve worked with are struggling to integrate into American society. They face a lack of empathy due to their origins and have experienced bullying and aggression because they come from what is perceived as the “aggressor” country.
As a theater maker and educator, I wondered if I could use some of the theater making tools to disrupt social bias, hate, and violence. I began to imagine a theater-based program in which Russian refugee children could safely process and share their experiences and stories with American-born peers. And the SpaceBridge initiative was born!
SpaceBridge brought together 11 young Russian refugees between nine and 14 years old with eight American-born peers in a series of creative workshops to share stories, foster connections, and envision an alternative future where intercultural friendships were embraced and supported. A ten-session workshop syllabus which I designed for this program became a base for the live performance at LaMaMa ETC.
SpaceBridge draws its inspiration from two significant historical events: the 1983 peace mission to the USSR led by 12-year-old American activist Samantha Smith, who bridged the gap between American and Russian children during the Cold War; and the satellite-mediated “citizens’ debates”, known as “spacebridges” between the US and the USSR, which prompted unfiltered and uncensored conversations between ordinary people from both cultures
During the SpaceBridge development, I grappled with whether the challenges faced by displaced Russian youth deserve attention while the terrible war is still going on and Ukrainian children are being kidnapped or orphaned. However, working with the 11 refugees and their new American friends gave me hope that we can also foster empathy for Russian children, whose families sought refuge due to persecution for their pro-democracy stance in Russia.
If Samantha Smith, who once suggested Andropov and Reagan exchange granddaughters to bridge nations, were alive today, I imagine she would advocate for listening to these creative and empathetic young individuals.
We are in discussions of remounting the production for a longer run in the winter of 2025. We believe that if SpaceBridge is experienced by a wider audience, it might help us to approach these issues differently and focus on what binds us together.
Additionally, we are expanding the SpaceBridge workshop curriculum to a national level. The curriculum can be adapted to serve any refugee community. Once published, we will share it with educational centers and theaters, and offer training for teaching artists.
The SpaceBridge initiative is supported by La MaMa ETC, En Garde Arts and Visual Echo and commissioned by the Joan D. Firestone Commissioning Fund at En Garde Arts.
Major support for SpaceBridge is provided by: David Richenthal Foundation, Leon Lowenstein Foundation, a generous donation of Anne Gottlieb in honor of beloved Chekhov teacher Joanna Merlin, Creative Engagement, a regrant program supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by LMCC, and The John Erskine Faculty Prize, The Juilliard School, Adam Meyer, Provost.
The project is developed in collaboration with the Stella Adler Center for the Arts, which generously provided educational support to help participants acquire valuable performance skills and build their confidence and self-esteem. SpaceBridge is supported by the New School of Drama, with assistance from its students and faculty in the project’s development.
“a dynamism to the storytelling that never lets up ”
-Elisabeth Vincentelli, The New York Times
“real stories in an exuberantly theatrical form.”
-Zachary Stewart, TheaterMania
“one of the most moving theatre works I’ve ever witnessed”
– Carol Rocamora, American Theatre Magazine
“a timely and moving piece of theatre that demands attention”
-Malini Singh McDonald, Theatre Beyond Broadway
“Kruzhilina’s ensemble work represents an electrically authentic new voice at the table of global theatermaking, where migrant-made work is greater than the mere sum of its parts and a true paradigm for radical, revolutionary empathy”
– Natalie Rine, Broadway DNA Blog
Credits
Conceived and Directed by
Irina Kruzhilina
Produced by
La MaMa ETC., En Garde Arts and Visual Echo
Written by
Clark Young and Irina Kruzhilina
Scenic Design
Irina Kruzhilina
Projection Design
Peter Nigrini
Associate Projection Design
Zoey Crow
Cinematography
Aleksei Postnikov
Lighting Design
Brian H Scott
Sound Design
Sophie Yuqing Nie and Darron L West
Choreography
Laura Peterson
Voice/Speech Coach
Alba Quezada
Props
Jacqueline Brockel, Moira Zhang, Lars Montanaro, Noyu Ueda
Puppet Design
Yuliya Tsukerman and Nick Lehane
Consulting Producer
Sara Stackhouse
Assistant Directors
Colin Wilson and Anamaria Willars
Musical Theatre Consultant
Robbie Simpson
Five Below Song Composer
Ian Miller
Magic Consultant
Geoff Kanick
Stella Adler Acting and Voice Trainer
Christa Kimlicko Jones
Devising Assistants
Lars Montanaro, Pau Zabaleta Llauger and Rodrigo Pocidônio
Stage Manager
Max Mooney
Assistant Stage Manager
Krista Gramlich
Production Manager
Thijs Beuming
Featuring
Ellen Lauren as Samantha Smith
Alisa Shaverdova
Anastasia Skorobogach
Anna Skorobogach
Arina Skorobogach
Artem Skorobogach
Lily Borzenko
Leon Ladya
Mark Savin
Mars Markelov
Sasha Boikova
Sonia Tsatskina
Adele Nigrini
Alex Weiner
Drake Malave
Henry MacDowell
Nate Hatter
Sabine Gutenberg
Silas MacLean
Tiera Lopper
"I've gotten better at communicating with people who don't speak my language"
-Henry MacDowell
"Now I am always waiting for Wednesday and Sunday, to come to these workshops "
-Arina Skorobogach
"It gave me hope, that I am not the only one with bad English"
-Alisa Shaverdoba
"Someone I know thinks that all Russians are evil because of the war going on right now, but that’s just really not the case"
-Henry MacDowell
"Now I can see that they are innocent kids, just like Ukrainian kids, and its heartbreaking, really"
-Teddy Treusch
"I realized that people around the world are having problems, and that if we come together, we can change that"
-Ayden Medina