Kyiv's Wild Theatre has announced the premiere of the play 'Gentle Mode'—a production created from 77 real stories about sex and intimacy shared by the audience with the theatre team. This was reported by Wave RBC.UA citing press materials from the Wild Theatre. The play is scheduled for November 19 and 20, 2026, at Scene 6 of the Dovzhenko Centre in Kyiv, making it one of the capital's upcoming theatrical highlights.
Seventy-seven stories as a dramaturgical basis
The play is not based on a fictional plot, but on real testimonies collected from the audience. According to press materials, it was the audience who shared stories with the theatre team about physicality, desires, fears, and honesty in relationships. Director and playwright Nataliia Syvanenko, who co-authored the stage version, took on the task of organizing this material into a dramaturgical structure. The theatre describes the production as a "beautiful and delicate story about people who have learned how to have sex, but have yet to learn how to talk about it."
A laundromat as a space for intimate confessions
The action unfolds in a location unusual for intimate topics—an ordinary laundromat that one evening turns into a space for open confessions. The key image of the play is other people's laundry, which, according to the authors' concept, tells more about its owners than they are willing to voice themselves. The characters fall in love, share secret fantasies, and search for themselves, all while fearing their own desires and trying to conform to the idea of "normality." The team emphasizes that the play is conceived as a candid conversation about topics that are often uncomfortable to discuss even with a loved one—about sincerity with partners and with oneself.
War and sensuality: a central theme
A separate narrative thread of the production is dedicated to the impact of the full-scale war on sensuality and how desire and intimacy have changed. The team invites the audience to reflect on whether people have started to understand their own desires better and speak about them openly. "I am interested in exploring the topic of sex today because it is one of the manifestations of humanity. We have all been significantly affected by the war," said the play's producer, Yaroslava Kravchenko. According to her, such a conversation is necessary for both the audience and the creators, as it "makes the world more understandable, and people—bolder and more open."
Team and premiere details
The director of 'Gentle Mode' is Yurii Katynskyi, the designer is Yurii Larionov, the producer is Yaroslava Kravchenko, and the project partner is Karine Mnatsakanyan. The premiere performances will take place on November 19 and 20, 2026, at 6:30 PM at Scene 6 of the Dovzhenko Centre in Kyiv (1 Vasylkivska St). Tickets range from 400 to 2000 UAH, with an age restriction of 18+. Thus, the play is aimed at an adult audience and is designed for a direct dialogue with the viewer on topics that remain taboo in the public sphere.
