🇪🇺 TEEN European Digital Community: Oak Tree from Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine

Oak Tree

I’m a person with broad interests – aside from theater, my main passions are history, politics, and the art of rhetoric. I believe these share something fundamental with theater: sensing people and knowing how to shape the atmosphere is just as important there as it is on stage. Likewise, being heard – so that your words transform into a living idea for someone else – matters deeply. I see myself as a participant in theatrical events and as someone who has realized themselves within their beloved fields of interest, in order to be heard widely enough by all.

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 wouldn’t form into sentences that truly resonated with what I felt, neither exaggerating nor understating them. When I encountered theatrical art, I understood how others do it – with such admiration in their performance, how humanized their emotions become through the text, and how they express themselves. Even simple words can carry more weight and convey more than what I was trying to piece together for myself, after seeing examples in performances. I saw how one can be concise yet leave a sense of fullness instead of emptiness inside; how what’s seen by others can inspire admiration, not fear; and how I could finally open up to myself, feeling that my emotions had found expression, rather than being stuck inside, forgotten.

The first seed

A performance I watched.

Tell us about that first spark

At a performance I saw in a Ukrainian theater, I came across an adaptation of my favorite novel, The City by Valerian Pidmohylny. It was a staging of a prose work, and I never imagined it could be this good. At first, I was skeptical, but I decided to give it a try – I figured you should try everything in life at least once. That evening, I saw just how different my own perception of the text could be from how others express it. The meaning and interpretation of the main characters came to life before my eyes – I could see emotion so vividly and reflect on my own behavior through theirs. The lines sank deep into my soul, and with every minute, I found myself peering more intently into the details of their performance: their brief physical interactions, the light touch of hands, the glances exchanged during dialogue, even the direction their shoes pointed – all of it came alive. It made me relive the thrill of my memories of that beloved text, over and over again, all the way to its realization on stage. I felt a thirst and wanted to soak in every moment as deeply as possible, knowing each minute brought me closer to leaving the hall. But in that moment, I felt a spark – and I fanned it into a blazing fire within me. I wanted to understand the characters and the story even more profoundly. I didn’t want the experience to end. Every interaction grew more meaningful as time went on. The closer we got to the end, the more I caught myself rethinking everything, wishing the moments would stretch on far longer. I wanted to savor each phrase, each gesture, and hold onto that sense of fulfillment for as long as possible – because I understood then that theater must be truly felt, along with its actors, their dynamic on stage, and the possible personalities they carry in real life, how they characterize themselves here and on stage. I tried, and I still try, to see the picture as broadly as I can – to grasp every detail in order to understand the meaning and intention of each participant as deeply and thoroughly as possible. Because everyone matters there – even the accidental touch of hands..

Roots (people & experiences that shaped your path)

What mattered to me were my own feelings – as well as my family and friends, who listened to my impressions of the theater and expressed their emotions in different ways. My parents were supportive and even attended several performances with me, sharing the same emotions I had felt. Friends I’d kept in touch with since school became genuinely interested in my enthusiasm, and jokingly, I took on the role of a Shakespearean character – which led to our music teacher overhearing and coming up with the idea of organizing a school performance. I took part in it, along with many others, and I believe that this spontaneous situation actually sparked the beginning of a theater culture at my school. I suspect they’ve kept up occasional performances even now. Because what I experienced back then filled me with such delight – being seen and heard by others.

The trunk (what keeps you in theatre)

The feelings and words of people – where even a short, concise phrase means more than a strict and vast selection of words; where brevity of expression must strike the heart – and it truly strikes mine. Certain phrases linger in my mind, leaving behind elevated feelings from the performance. That’s what keeps me in the theater – this sensing of the soul.

Branches (future / desire)

I plan not only to observe people and how they express themselves, but also to express myself – to be concise in my words yet as clear as possible for my audience, so I can linger in their hearts and minds just as certain moments from the theater linger in mine.

Are you currently involved in cultural activities?

Yes, sometimes

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? Why?

I would be an oak tree. I would strive to root myself as firmly as I could in the earth, anchoring myself deeply and claiming a broad, distinct place of my own. Awareness and expression would take a considerable amount of time – just as an oak takes long to grow – but that time allows it to blossom with full strength and wide freedom, the freedom it has carved out for itself in the forest.

Contact

Email: inquartnnn1@gmail.com

Instagram: @noevitarisw