She stands in the middle of the battlefield

Why does a Ukrainian theater director decide to become a soldier? What begins as a personal question - how do you relate to a friend, a sister, who is leaving for the front lines - evolves into a profound exploration of responsibility, conviction, and the limits of solidarity.

Drawing on letters, voice messages, chats, videos, and research material, a layered portrait emerges of the daily life of a woman at war. Not as a heroic tale, but as a concrete, often painful reality in which idealism, exhaustion, and moral doubt are constantly intertwined. Central to the work is the question of what it means to have to commit one’s body and values to a hyper-patriarchal system (the military), and what remains of freedom of choice in extreme circumstances.

Szpecht continues her research on the war in Ukraine, at the intersection of theater, journalism, and research. She previously created Cyber Elf (2022) and Spy Girls (2024); here too, the boundaries between fiction and reality blur, and theater becomes a way to look, listen, and understand what eludes the eye. 

Szpecht continues her exploration of the war in Ukraine, at the intersection of theater, journalism, and research. Her previous works include *Cyber Elf* (2022) and *Spy Girls* (2024); here, too, the boundaries between fiction and reality blur, and theater becomes a way to observe, listen, and understand what eludes our view.