🇪🇺 TEEN European Digital Community: Oak of Expression from Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine
Ukraine
Oak of Expression
My name is Daria. I am a person with broad interests — besides theatre, my main passions are history, politics, and the art of rhetoric. I believe these fields share something fundamental with theatre: sensing people and shaping atmosphere matter just as much as words themselves. For me, being heard means allowing words to become a living idea in someone else. I see myself both as a participant in theatrical events and as someone who wants to grow in her chosen fields in order to speak clearly, meaningfully, and widely.
The soil / the need
I was desperately in need of self-expression. I couldn’t articulate my feelings and emotions clearly enough for myself — words would not form into sentences that truly resonated with what I felt. When I encountered theatre, I understood how expression can be embodied: how even simple words can carry more weight, how emotions can become humanized through performance, and how someone can be concise yet leave fullness instead of emptiness. Theatre helped me feel that my emotions had finally found a form, instead of remaining trapped inside me.
The first seed
A performance you watched.
Tell us about that first spark
I saw an adaptation of my favorite novel, The City by Valerian Pidmohylny, in a Ukrainian theatre. I had never imagined a prose work could be staged so powerfully. At first I was skeptical, but as the performance unfolded, I became deeply absorbed in every detail — gestures, glances, physical distance, touches, even the direction of shoes during dialogue. The characters and meanings came alive before me in a completely new way. I felt a spark then — and I turned it into a fire. I wanted to understand the story, the characters, and theatre itself more and more deeply.
Roots (people & experiences that shaped your path)
My own feelings mattered, but so did my family and friends, who listened to my impressions and shared their emotions with me. My parents supported me and attended performances with me. Friends from school became interested in my enthusiasm, and through a spontaneous joking moment (when I took on a Shakespearean character), our music teacher got the idea to organize a school performance. I took part in it along with many others, and I believe that moment helped spark a theatre culture at my school. What I experienced then — being seen and heard — meant a lot.
The trunk (what keeps you in theatre)
What keeps me in theatre is the feeling carried by words: when even a short phrase can mean more than a long and strict explanation, when brevity strikes directly at the heart — and truly strikes mine. Some lines stay with me long after a performance ends. This “sensing of the soul” keeps me connected.
Branches (future / desire)
I want not only to observe how people express themselves, but to express myself as well — to speak concisely, clearly, and meaningfully enough to remain in people’s hearts and minds, just as theatre moments remain in mine.
Are you currently involved in cultural activities?
Yes, sometimes.
If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? Why?
An oak tree. I would strive to root myself deeply and firmly, growing among others. Awareness and expression take time — just as an oak takes a long time to grow — but that time allows it to develop strength and freedom, a freedom it has earned in the forest.
