“I don’t want to divide the world and the nation into ‘locals’ and ‘IDPs’. I just want to be a Ukrainian.”

These heartfelt words come from one of the IDPs who now resides in Zhytomyr.

She expressed her feelings after watching a Forum Theater play. The unique performance was delivered by actors, themselves IDPs, now living in Zhytomyrska, Vinnytska, and Kyivska oblasts.

The Forum Theatre is a unique format that not only unearths pressing issues, but also promotes active interaction between performers and viewers to collaboratively discover solutions through dialogue. The regional screening of the play in Zhytomyr on July 1 was centered around the topic of challenges that IDPs face in their new communities.

The story revolved around an IDP from Kharkiv. In 2014, the woman had refused to rent an apartment to a mother with children when she found out that they were IDPs from Luhansk. Later, in 2022, she had to flee war and seek shelter herself. In her new community, she felt the prejudice of landlords toward IDPs on her own skin. 

“To be honest, I didn’t expect such an active audience: the audience, together with the actresses, were looking for ways out of the situation, voicing recommendations, concerns, and puttin themselves in the shoes the characters in the play,” Svitlana Prokofyeva, the coordinator of the United Voices in Action initiative in Zhytomyrska Oblast shared her impressions.

A similar Forum Theater performance was staged in Dnipro as well. The performance tackled issues faced by IDPs, including adjusting to new environments, financial constraints, lack of understanding and empathy from locals, and children’s responses to these challenges.

Psychologists who work with IDPs note that the issue of IDP reception in new communities has been brewing for years, contributing to a mental divide amongst Ukrainians.

“The Forum Theatre in Dnipro was a deeply affecting event. It underscored that the challenges IDPs face across different oblasts remain pertinent and we must strive tirelessly to improve the situation,” states Oksana Kupriy, the regional coordinator of the United Voices in Action in Dnipropetrovska oblast.