Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – With WHEN THE HURLYBURLY’S DONE, Richard Nelson once again quietly rivets, this time in Ukrainian

• By drediman
• September 22, 2025
• No Comments

This past weekend, The Public Theater concluded hosting the New York run of Theater on Podil’s production of When the Hurlyburly’s Done by Richard Nelson. The Public is no stranger to presenting Nelson’s work, having been the home of The Apple Family Plays and The Gabriels, two of the playwright’s cycle of plays set in Rhinebeck, New York. Those of you who familiar with these plays will know what to expect — conversational dialogue (largely in real time), the quiet revelations, the kitchen setting, and the live cooking. To be sure, When the Hurlyburly’s Done shares these characteristics, but also a few key differences.

Taking place in Ukraine during the midst of World War I, the play — which is performed in Ukrainian with English supertitles — depicts a group of women from a theater company who stay behind in their living quarters to attend to their children and prepare a meal as their husbands are attending a play by a being performed in their honor. Over the course of their time together, the women casually expound about their lives — some aspects more mundane than others — as well as rehearse a dance segment from the company’s production of Macbeth, the first production of Shakespeare performed in Ukrainian. As the evening wears on, they slowly learn of the devastations wrought on each of them by the war in a quietly riveting manner that has become a trademark of Nelson’s writing, which is delicately laced with humor and pain. For the production, the decision was made to garb these women in unassuming contemporary clothing, powerfully drawing the connection between the war-torn past and the horrors of the present.

Also taking on directorial duties, Nelson stages his play in an unadorned, insistently naturalistic fashion, complete with an actual meal consumed by the cast. Across the board, the acting by the visiting Ukrainian actresses are exceptionally lived in and ultimately heartbreaking — but not without a tinge of hope. And although their performances were initially difficult to penetrate (being performed in Ukrainian), the complexity of their acting — which didn’t seem like acting at all, really, which is a huge compliment — eventually fully drew me in with their authenticity and subtle force.

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WHEN THE HURLYBURLY’S DONE
Off-Broadway, Play
Theater on Podil at The Public Theater
1 hour, 50 minutes (without an intermission)
Closed