Jake Mace
Yanina Hope and Ivanka Polchenko are respectively the Performer-Playwright and Director of upcoming Voila! Theatre Festival show The Sound of Absence. They bill the piece as an exploration of loss, memory, and the way “music becomes our companion in grief”. Aiming to blend live sound, movement, and immersive storytelling, we follow a character called Lenore as she returns home to an unexpected visitor. We caught up with Yanina and Ivanka for a pixelated pint to find out what inspired the piece.
You can catch The Sound of Absence as part of Voila! Theatre Festival at The Space Theatre on Saturday 8th November at 8pm and again on Sunday 9th November at 6pm (70mins). Tickets (£16 / £12 conc.) are available through the Voila! Festival Online Box Office.
Jake: Hi Ivanka and Yanina – The Sound of Absence is described as experimental musical theatre piece about daughterhood, memory, loss, and the invisible bond between father and daughter – tell us about what inspired the piece and why you wanted to tell this story now.
Ivanka: I let Yanina tell her part of the story, but for me it was a possibility to talk about some very intimate and personal feelings that require great courage and sincerity as an artist. It’s one of the biggest challenges we can face when creating. I must confess, I also identify with the main character and her path crosses my own in several moments of the show. I wanted the audience to experience this feeling as well, to bring personal and universal together.
Yanina: This piece was inspired by my personal relationship with my father and how that relationship evolved over the years. After his passing, I found myself wanting to understand him more deeply — to explore who he was, what shaped him, and what made him the father he was to me. This piece became a journey of discovery — not only of him, but of myself through him. I wanted to dive into the layers of memory, perception, and love that define our closest relationships. When people come to see the show, I want them to go on their own kind of journey too. I think we could all use a bit more grounding right now, and sometimes that starts with understanding where we come from — and who our parents were — can bring us greater peace with where we are in our own lives.
Jake: The piece draws together an international ensemble, tell us about the process of devising the piece and how you all came together.
Yanina: I’ll let Ivanka go into more detail about the rehearsal process, but for me, it all started with the writing. I had always wanted to create a solo performance that combined storytelling and music, and when I finished this piece, I knew it was finally the one that could truly live on stage. I shared it with a very talented pianist and composer Vladyslav Kyznetsov — who had always wanted to collaborate on something text-based. The moment he read it, he said yes. We began experimenting together, exploring how music and language could weave into one another, how sound could become another voice in the story. Pretty soon, we realized we needed a director to help bring everything together. I had seen Ivanka’s previous work and was struck by her sense of simplicity and minimalism — the way her shows feel so understated but hold such emotional depth. I knew right away she was the right person. When I reached out, she read the play and told me she saw herself in the piece and wanted to be part of that journey. That’s when everything truly began to take shape — when it stopped being just an idea and became something alive between us.
Ivanka: The idea of the show belongs to Yanina Hope and Vladyslav Kuznetsov, who wanted to create a common project involving theatre and music where each medium would exist in its own right. I got involved at the stage of the first script draft when we started discussing the dramaturgy of the project. Each of us had to be very honest and open to others to allow each one’s creativity to be expressed fully and to serve the story we waned to tell. It’s a lot about listening to others. We first concentrated on the script with Yanina, knowing that the music would come to fill in the gaps and the pauses and that we had to leave the space for it, refraining from telling too much.
Vladyslav worked in parallel, composing music pieces. The real work started when we began to build up the story, weaving the two elements together. It was another challenging task, questioning each meaning, making sure we stayed on the same wavelength. I visualise every element from the start – music, text, body in the space. When the text-music script was ready, I knew we needed a movement director to help us shape the whole. That’s how Anelya Korzik joined us. When she first came, we ran the show for her and then talked about the meanings she saw and sensed, so it was again about listening and tuning together. And when I come to think of it, this is the true essence of the project.
Jake: What will be the first thing the audience sees, feels, and hears as they enter the space?
Yanina: The first thing the audience will feel is a sense of complete emptiness — a kind of nothingness. There’s darkness, stillness, and this strange feeling of being somewhere familiar, but not quite. That was very intentional. We wanted to create this sensation of a vast black void — a space where everything feels suspended — and then something starts to shift. Out of that darkness, something extraordinary begins to emerge. It’s like being invited into an unknown world, and as it reveals itself, you start to realize that it’s deeply connected to your own inner landscape.
Ivanka: When you enter the space, you find yourself in semi-darkness, watching the second part of the audience sitting in front of you across the stage. The only stage element is the grand piano, also dissolved in the shadow. Gradually, the lights go dim and everyone grows quieter. Then a man in a black suit enters the stage, opens the instrument and strikes the first notes…
Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Ivanka: The beauty of the music and the depth of the silence. The devastating effect of rage and pain, and the message that love can overcome everything and bring healing. But overall, we hope that through our story, the audience may reconnect to some purest moments of childhood in everyone’s life that we all cherish and keep close to our hearts.
Yanina: I want the audience to really go on the emotional journey with the piece — a kind of rediscovery and self-connection. I hope the performance acts like a mirror, reflecting parts of themselves they might not have thought about before. They’ll leave with questions, moments to sit with, and maybe a little more curiosity about their own lives.
Jake: With Voila! Theatre Festival 2025 just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Yanina: This is my second year with Voila! Festival. Last year, I was a lead actor in the play The World of Yesterday by Anya Ostrovskaya , and it was such a great experience — not just performing, but also seeing other artists’ work in the same space. This year – it’s my first time being part of the festival as a writer and producer as well, I’m really excited to share our own piece with both the London audience and an international crowd at the festival. I’m especially looking forward to the shared experience, the feedback, and the chance to meet new creatives. It’s always inspiring to see how audiences and fellow artists respond, and that exchange is a big part of what makes Voila! Festival so special to me.
Ivanka: The Voila! Theatre Festival is a melting pot of cultures, languages and creative styles. It’s very stimulating to be part of such a diverse community of artists. It also shows the richness that comes from sharing your cultural DNA with other creatives. In this sense, our project is, in a way, an embodiment of the Voila creed. We had the chance to preview the show in May, but the performances at the Voila Festival will be the first official public presentation of this work. We are very excited about the opportunity to share the story with a larger audience. At the heart of The Sound of Absence lies a deeply personal and intimate story, and we were touched, humbled and amazed to see that people opened their hearts to it, each finding something to connect to. We look forward to seeing how the show develops in contact with the audience.
Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Ivanka: Our show is a combination of well-known elements that produces a totally new and unexpected effect. So I would invent a new cocktail called Crystal Tear, mixing vodka, blue curaçao, lemon juice and a splash of sparkling water. Shake well for a sour-sweet taste of memory and belonging. Serve on the rocks.
Yanina: Oh! For me it would definitely be a Bee’s Knees — a Prohibition era favorite! A little sour, a little sweet, and totally unexpected. It starts with sadness and darkness, hits you with a bit of bite, and then slowly unfolds into warmth and discovery. By the end, you’re left thinking, smiling, and maybe even a little buzzed — in the best way.
A reminder, you can catch The Sound of Absence as part of Voila! Theatre Festival at The Space Theatre on Saturday 8th November at 8pm and again on Sunday 9th November at 6pm (70mins). Tickets (£16 / £12 conc.) are available through the Voila! Festival Online Box Office.
