In the midst of artillery fire and air-raid sirens, on stages hastily rebuilt in basements or framed in candlelight within cultural centres, Ukrainian playwrights are scripting a different kind of resistance. Since the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine’s theatre has emerged as a vital force in articulating national trauma, chronicling heroism, and interrogating the private and public dimensions of a war that has not spared the realm of art. The new Ukrainian theatre is at once intimate and defia