The Les Kurbas Lviv Academic Theater invites you to the premiere of the play "When Wormwood Blooms" on April 17 and 19, 2024.

German dancer Rainer Behr, who played himself in Pedro Almodóvar's film "Talk to Her," has put together a physical performance with Lviv residents. He described the genre of the production as "you must dance life." He tries to find a way to talk about healing from despair and disillusionment through movement rather than words.

The project idea was born in the summer of 2023 when in June, Rainer Behr, along with his assistant Halyna Shchupak, arrived at the Les Kurbas Lviv Academic Theater for a week-long dance-theater workshop for the theater's actors. Afterward, they decided to create a joint work on the stage of the Kurbas Theater.

The preparation process took several months. The themes echoed in the performance are sensitive and personal, yet familiar to everyone. It's about what we carry in our memory, in the memory of our ancestors, and in the memory of our land. It's not always something pleasant, as memory can hold a lot of pain. But also, a lot of joy and hope.

"Why are we who we are? As if life passes us by, and eventually, we understand who we are. Because we finally listen and hear, giving voice to our ancestors and to those who are yet to be born. The attempt of this process is to find language in a moment that leaves you speechless. It's about sorrow, hope, dreams, despair, loss, fear, and love, unity, and loneliness. About our strengths and weaknesses and the desire to heal." - says the director Rainer Behr about the performance.

Director - Rainer Behr - dancer and director of the Wuppertal Tanztheater.

Assistant director - Halyna Shchupak

Set designer - Yuliia Rybka