Once Upon a Time There Was a Rooster (UKRAINE)
By Anna Halas
Directed by Eva Burgess
A contemporary play dealing with the current war, about a Ukranian family on a farm and a Russian soldier who stumbles into their farm.
90 minutes, discussion follows
Presented with the help of Consulate General of Ukraine in New York and Razom for Ukraine.
About
Anna Halas (playwright) is a playwright and drama translator with over 20 years of experience. She made her playwriting debut in 2020 through the Second Drama Laboratory of the National Union of Theatre Workers of Ukraine. Her play The Dreamcatcher was a finalist at the Festival of Modern Drama in Kyiv, marking the start of her work for both adults and children.
Her plays have received recognition in Ukrainian and international festivals. Once Upon a Time There Lived a Rooster and Heartbeat were long-listed by the July Honey drama competition in 2022 and 2023. The Chronicles of the Lost Soul, written in response to Russia’s full-scale war, was selected by Parade-Fest, published in Anthology24 (2022), and later staged at London’s Reboot Festival (2023). It was also featured in Drama Panorama 2023.
Her play Over the Hills and Far Away was presented at Scotland’s Spark Festival (2023). Mono-plays The World Without a Face and Red Army Failure also received acclaim, with the latter winning at the Batumi International Festival of Monodrama (Georgia). Her children's plays, including The Dolphin Bay and Christmas in the Count’s Palace, have been recognized at various festivals, with The Dolphin Bay winning the children's drama category at the Children’s Festival (2021).
Eva Burgess (director) is a New York based director and theatre artist, whose work has been seen in the States as well as internationally. Eva focuses on making new theatrical work for the stage — in collaboration. Her happiest moments include being in a room with playwrights, actors, theatre artists finding ways to tell a story. Eva has cultivated ongoing creative relationships with particular writers and companies (including Dana Goldstein, Pele Bausch Performance, Messenger Theatre Company, and Playground). Eva met Edward Einhorn many years ago as part of a festival honoring Vaclav Havel, where she directed Largo Desolato, and she is so pleased to be working together again. Eva makes her living teaching theatre and is an Applied Theatre practitioner.
Daria Kolomiec (speaker) is a Ukrainian cultural activist, producer, and creator of the Diary of War documentary project, Time’s Next Generation Leader. In the first days of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she launched a Diary of War documentary podcast featuring voice messages from 41 Ukrainians sharing their firsthand experiences from the first days and weeks of the war. Since then, living between Kyiv and NYC, Daria has brought these stories to the U.S., adapting them into theatrical performances and stage readings. Daria’s work has involved exceptional collaborations with American theater communities. In 2023–24, Daria partnered with Yara Arts Group and director Virlana Tkacz to stage Mariupol: Diaries of War and the Tree of Life, based on stories from Mariupol diarists, performed in last year's Rehearsal for Truth Festival as well as other venues in New York and New Jersey. In 2024, Daria began organizing her own Diary of War events featuring renowned American actors and raising over $90,000 for Ukrainian aid organisations. These included a reading with Zuzanna Szadkowski supporting female veterans and a collaboration with Bedlam, where American veterans performed the diary entries through Bedlam’s Veterans Outreach Program. In fall 2024, Daria crafted a script for a benefit reading Diary of War: Women at the Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research and Bedlam’s West End Theatre, presenting the stories of seven Ukrainian women. Her most recent sold-out reading in partnership with the Private Theatre, held in February 2025 to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, featured prominent American actors, including Laila Robins, Ismenia Mendes, Carson Elrod, and others. Currently, Daria is co-developing an interactive workshop inviting participants of all backgrounds to explore the process of transforming real-life testimonies into documentary theater, offering a unique opportunity to engage with powerful narratives and contribute to a growing community of artistic and humanitarian support.
Part of Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival honoring Václav Havel, produced by the Vaclav Havel Center and the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.
ABOUT THE 2025 REHEARSAL FOR TRUTH INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL
Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival, honoring Václav Havel, is a showcase of contemporary European theater organized each year in New York City. Conceived in 2017 as a shared endeavor of the Václav Havel Center (VHC) and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA), the festival honors the legacy of Czech playwright, dissident and political thinker Vaclav Havel.
Each edition of Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival addresses current sociopolitical trends in Central and Eastern Europe, offering New York audiences a unique opportunity to witness the region’s theatrical zeitgeist.
The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. The festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.