Ukraine is under siege following a full-scale military invasion by Russia on 24 February 2022

Artists from the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Spain are among the key members of MIME WAVE FESTIVAL. Most actors will come to Ukraine for the first time to show performances of physical theater and give educational lectures and thematic discussions for local colleagues and admirers of a new formation theatre.

During the parallel program of MIME WAVE FESTIVAL a series of events will be dedicated to the functioning of independent theaters as well as an intensive theater management course and series of lectures and discussions will be organized.

Opening of the festival

On Saturday, June 15, IZONE creative community’s doors will be opened for all physical theater fans. The festival will be opened by its founder Anastasiia Liubchenko and one of her mentors, anartist and mime from the Netherlands, Ide von Heiningan.

Ide started his first theatrical group in 1968 while studying at the Mime Department of Amsterdam Academy of Theater. In 1983 he founded the Mime Studio in Harlem and in 1985 became a director of the Dutch mime center. He then founded the Moving Academy for Performing Arts (MAPA), an initiative aimed to support and educate young theater makers in Eastern Europe; during this project he worked in Serbia, Romania, Croatia and Ukraine.

June 15, Saturday, 16:00 - 18:00
IZONE Creative Community; 2nd floor
Naberezhno-Lugova, 8 (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Entrance is free


Lecture by Karina Holla Life as a mime artist and director

Karina Holla — the Netherlands’ "Queen of mime", director and actress. She belongs to the first generation of mime-actors. In 1985 she was awarded the VSCD Mime Prize. Holla’s performances are inspired by unusual historical figures in the fields of fine arts, cinema and literature.

June 16, Sunday, 16:30 - 18:00
IZONE Creative Community; 4th floor
Naberezhno-Lugova, 8 (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Entrance is free


15 min of glory

A series of pitching theatrical initiatives and projects

June 17, Monday, 19:00 - 21:00
IZONE Creative Community; 4th floor
Naberezhno-Lugova, 8 (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Entrance is free


Lecture on Fundraising

A series of presentations about grant programs for theatre makers. Visitors will learn about financing possibilities for their projects, the procedure of filing in documents and the matters that expert commission pays special attention to.

June 18, Tuesday, 18:00 - 19:30
IZONE Creative Community; 4th floor
Naberezhno-Lugova, 8 (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Entrance is free


Women-experts’ discussion and mime-schools presentation:

On the penultimate day of the festival there will be a unique event of three mime-schools presentations, which will be conducted by female directors. Among the speakers are Loes van der Pligt — artistic director of Mime department at Amsterdam Academy of Theater and Dance, Lena Stefenson — artistic director of Mime department at Stockholm University of the Arts, Natalia Uzhvenko — Head of the Department of Pantomime at Kyiv Municipal Academy of circus and variety arts.

June 22, Saturday, 12:00 - 14:00
IZONE Creative Community; 4th floor
Naberezhno-Lugova, 8 (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Entrance is free


Intensive program of theatre management

Intensive program of theatre management is designed for those who intend to create and implement theatre projects, to be an active mediator between theatre makers and the public, to form and develop the theatre environment from the inside.

The intensive program involves working with the basics of project management, concept and planning, search of financing and sponsorship. Participants of the intensive program will develop understanding about the functioning of Ukraine’s theatre industry, learn about all stages of the project starting with forming an idea and ending with its final implementation. They will work with texts and images and will be introduced to many important theatre industry figures from Ukraine and abroad (Ide von Heiningen and Karina Holla from Netherlands, Jean-Daniel von Lerber / Switzerland,  Lena Stefenson / Sweden, Andriy Palatny / Ukraine and others).

There are from 10 to 16 vacant positions for participation within the intensive program, 50% of which are reserved for managers and 50% for performers. On the last day of the program basing on the pitching results a group of experts will select two participants, who will be supported in organization of a trip to Amsterdam in order to get familiar with local theater environment.

June 15 - June 22
IZONE Creative Community; 4th floor
Naberezhno-Lugova, 8 (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Participation on the basis of Open Call


Events will be sponsored by the Cultural Bridges Program.