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Behind London’s “Donbas” Play—Applause, Sold-Out Shows, and Claims of Moral Equivalence
A play titled Donbas is currently being staged in London at Theatre 503, prompting criticism over concerns that it may distort perceptions of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
The production is written by playwright Olha Braga, who describes herself as Ukrainian. The premiere took place on February 5, and performances are scheduled to run until March 7. The play is directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike and features Ukrainian actress Sasha Sizonеnko.
Stand-up comedian Iryna Hil drew attention to the production via X on February 16, questioning both its narrative framing and the background of its author. According to Hil, prior to 2022 Braga was known as Olha Nikora. A profile on the Vertical Line Theatre website states that she was born in “Transnistria, a region in the former USSR,” and emigrated to New Zealand as a teenager.
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The woman later moved to the United Kingdom, where, as stated on the Curtis Brown agency website, she works at the National Theatre and writes commissioned plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Hil also noted that the first reference to Braga as a “Ukrainian playwright” appeared on March 25, 2022. At that time, her earlier play Return to Sender was categorized among works that “Ukrainian authors write and urgently translate almost under bombs.” At the same time, Braga continues following Russian accounts in Instagram.
3/ З 2006 року Ольга Нікора/Брага живе в 🇬🇧 , її підписки в інсті 🤌
— Гіль🔪 (@i_gil_) February 16, 2026
Перша згадка про неї як «🇺🇦 драматургиню» 15.03.2022, де її стара пʼєса Return to Sender раптово в категорії “пʼєс які 🇺🇦 автори пишуть і екстренно перекладають ледве не під бомбами”. Зараз ця пʼєса і є “Donbas” pic.twitter.com/lJqV1HVKOD
Several British theater outlets have published favorable reviews. The Art Desk writes that in the Donbas town where the play is set, “ethnic Ukrainians and ethnic Russians who once played together in the streets, now shoot across them.”
Theatre Vibe says that during the performance the audience “starts to ealise that people are not as clear cut as either Russian or Ukrainian as all these separate countries were once part of the USSR.”
A reviewer for London Pub Theatres states that war is “a pointless, meaningless hell.”
“The triumph of London-based Ukrainian playwright Olga Braga’s Donbas is that it doesn’t take the easy route of simply lionising heroic little Ukraine. Instead it shows us the heartbreaking squalor of living in the midst of a war,” the review reads.
However, Iryna Hil sharply criticized both the play and its reception.
“Donbas was extended for a month due to sold-out performances. Foreigners are writing enthusiastic reviews while the play blurs the line between aggressor and victim, humanizes occupiers alongside Ukrainians. It presents resistance as irrational. It ignores Russia’s crimes,” she said.
Earlier, British singer Charli XCX was recently present at a Berlinale afterparty in Berlin hosted by Anastasia Shevtsova, whose mother, Zhanna Shevtsova, is a Russian cultural figure linked to a foundation active in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and collaborating with Kremlin-supported initiatives.
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-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
