Harvard Library of Ukrainian Literature Signals Being, or Verbum Caro Factum Est

Volodymyr Rafeyenko’s Signals of Being: A Play in Three Acts stages a captivating dramatic interpretation of a country at war today. Set in the early days of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, residents of a small community outside Kyiv rely on connection to survive as they are cut off from aid and unable to escape. In the early days of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the residents of a small co-op community outside of Kyiv find themselves in increasingly desperate circumstances, surrounded by occupying Russian forces. Pinched between Bucha and Borodianka, cut off from aid, and unable to escape, their attempts at survival rely on connection: a cellphone signal in the forest, their bonds with each other, and, ultimately, new understandings of what it means to be Ukrainian. Weaving Shakespeare with both Ukrainian literary classics and contemporary works, Volodymyr Rafeyenko’s Signals of Being stages a captivating dramatic interpretation of a country at war.