The documentary screening next week coincides with the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, writes Taro Kaneko

Crouch End ArtHouse and (inset) The Hooligan Collective

A documentary about a Ukrainian theatre group will premiere in Crouch End next week to coincide with the anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion.

The Hooligan Project is a film about a five-day workshop run by a Ukrainian theatre group, The Hooligan Art Community, at a festival in Cornwall last September.

Directed by Liubov Sliusareva, the documentary shows the group’s work with young adults on themes of belonging, violence and vulnerability.

The project takes inspiration from Simeon Kyslyi, co-founder of The Hooligan Art Community, who was once a teenage football hooligan, fighting rival football supporters in Ukraine.

Participants of the workshop shared their vulnerabilities and built up their confidence through expressions in singing, spoken words and dance. The project was co-produced with Harbour Festival in Redruth, an international festival of theatre, celebrating stories of migration and sanctuary.

The Hooligan Art Community was founded in Ukraine in 2019 and has developed collaborative performances in empty factories and abandoned spaces in Kyiv. The group was displaced from Ukraine in 2022 when the invasion by Vladimir Putin’s Russia began, with members relocating to the UK and other European countries.

However, two of its male actors were still stuck in Ukraine at this time and, while taking cover at a bomb-shelter in the city, they decided to create a performance called ‘Bunker Cabaret’.

In 2024, the group toured the UK and internationally to perform this cabaret for the second-year anniversary of Russian’s invasion of Ukraine.

There is free entry for the screening of The Hooligan Project at Crouch End ArtHouse from 7pm on Wednesday, 26th February, but booking is recommended.

It is one of a series of events by the theatre group to mark the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24th February 2022. On Monday (24th) they will host an event at the Somerset House in London to discuss and revisit their performance works.

For more information and tickets:
Visit hooliganart.org/dates

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