Ira Aldridge performs Othello's monolog Julian Kytasty as the Kobzar "Censor, why?" Ira & Taras search the Bible to find words in common Aldridge performs monolog from "King Lear"

Yara Arts Group receives two nominations for New York Innovative Theatre Awards

 Yara’s Jeremy Tardy has been nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Lead Role and Julian Kytasty for Best Original Music for their work in Yara Arts Group’s Dark Night Bright Stars directed by Virlana Tkacz. The show recreated the meeting in 1858 of Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861), the great Ukrainian poet and painter, and Ira Aldridge (1807-1867), the African-American actor who was much honored in Europe. The two great artists, who rose up from serfdom and slavery, could not speak to each other directly, but in one historical moment found a common language in art and song. Their meetings were documented in the diary of Count Tolstoy’s 15 year old daughter, Katya (Ekaterina Tolstoy Yunge). A selection of poetry by Taras Shevchenko deeply resounded with contemporary events, as did Aldridge’s Shakespearean monologues.

Jeremy Tardy’s performance as Ira Aldridge was riveting. He showed us the rich palette of his talent and amazing organic acting. Especially memorable in the show was his portrayal of Aldridge’s rendition of Shakespeare’s Othello and his moving reaction to Shevchenko’s story. Julian Kytasty’s original musical score employed traditional Ukrainian songs which Shevchenko knew, along with songs from the hymnal of AME Zion Church, which Ira Aldridge’s father attended.

Jeremy Tardy is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has a BFA in Drama from The Juilliard School. His first production with Yara Arts Group was Fire Water Night where he portrayed Luke in this show that re-imagined Lesia Ukrainka’s Forest Song. Mr. Tardy’s other theater credits include Fetch Clay, Make Man with New York Theatre Workshopand King Henry V with Classical Theater of Harlem. His film and TV credits include: Traces, War Dogs, Bone Tomahawk, “The Mindy Project” and “Castle”. He currently lives in LA and appears in the Netflix series “Dear White People.”
Julian Kytasty’s music features the bandura, a Ukrainian stringed instrument of the lute family. He is a third generation bandurist born in Detroit and now living in New York. Mr. Kytasty’s music combines a mastery of traditional styles with a distinctly contemporary sensibility. He has worked with Yara Arts Group since 1998, creating music for productions including Raven, Scythian Stones, Winter Light, Capt. John Smith Goes to Ukraine, Underground Dreams, Hitting Bedrock, and 1917/2017: Tychyna, Zhadan & the Dogs. He composed the award-winning film score for the National Film Board of Canada documentary My Mother’s Village. His playing was featured in The Guide, Ukraine’s submission to the 2015 Academy Awards. His most recent solo CD is “Nights in Banduristan,” an album of improvisations for Kharkiv-style bandura.

Dark Night Bright Stars was developed in 2014 by Yara artists and presented at a La MaMa workshop. That spring the show was performed in Ukraine at the American Festival in Odesa and experimental theaters in Lviv and Kyiv with assistance from the US Embassy in Kyiv. Yara premiered Dark Night Bright Stars in New York at La MaMa E.T.C. June 2016. Yara is a resident company at La MaMa Theatre and since 1990 has created thirty four international cultural projects with contemporary and traditional artists from Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Siberia.

The New York Innovative Theatre Awards bring recognition to the great work being done in New York City's Off-Off-Broadway and honor the artistic heritage of experimental theatre, recognizing the unique and essential role it plays in contributing to American and global culture. NYIT’s season runs from June 1 to May 31, so Yara’s latest show 1917/2017: Tychyna, Zhadan & the Dogs will be in next year’s awards cycle.

PHOTOS from Dark Night Bright Stars at La MaMa https://goo.gl/photos/pxm3RjwTRorNLcxm7

Dark Night Bright Stars in La MaMa, New York - June 3-19, 2016
Photos from La MaMa show by: Pavlo Terekhov | Waldemart Klyuzko | Lee Wexler

Dark Night Bright Stars in Ukraine - April 28 - May 11, 2014
photos from: Kyiv | Lviv | Odesa | our visit to Shevchenko Museum in Kyiv | La MaMa workshop in 2014