Description
158 Ways to Warm Up – a documentary black tragicomedy about the winter of war in Kyiv 2025–2026. “Cold is frightening because it is invisible. Missiles, drones, fire and explosions are visible dangers. Cold is everywhere and nowhere.” – Iryna Serebriakova. Helsinki 98 brings to the stage Ukrainian playwright Iryna Serebriakova’s new play 158 Ways to Warm Up (2026). The documentary work is a black tragicomedy about the winter of war in Kyiv 2025–2026: life in a city where attacks on electricity and heating infrastructure, power cuts and frost make home an unpredictable place. 158 Ways to Warm Up gathers the stories, survival tactics, memories, news, conversations and black humour of people living in Kyiv. They form a painful, intelligent and ruthless picture of people trying to continue their lives amid war. What to do when heating disappears and the indoor temperature drops to nine degrees? Or even below freezing. And when electricity works for a moment only to cut out again as the next air attack begins? The piece shows how life in a big city changes when water, electricity, heating and internet can no longer be taken for granted. Besides the cold, the work deals with humiliation, injustice, loneliness, loss of work and the impossibility of planning the future even a week ahead. Yet people keep experimenting, looking for an exit from a situation that has no exit. “My husband praised me. He said I’m like a hair‑dryer. I warm up. I don’t like that comparison. I want to be a microwave. I told him that too. But he still claims I’m a hair‑dryer because a hair‑dryer warms the head, whereas a microwave kills if you put your head in it.” – 158 Ways to Warm Up, Iryna Serebriakova (born 1988) is a Ukrainian playwright. Her works have been performed widely across Europe since 24 Feb 2022, both as reading theatre and stage productions. 158 Ways to Warm Up was commissioned by Helsinki 98 and is the second Ukrainian documentary drama production of the theatre. The first was Serebriakova’s play Men in Daylight (2025), about Ukrainian men who could not or would not go to war. Helsinki 98 wants to convey the experience of Kyiv’s winter 2025–2026: the cold, fear, absurdity and human resilience. Helsinki 98, founded in 2023, explores the question “What can art be after 24 Feb 2022?” In its 80‑seat venue, Vuosaaren Tilajakamö, the theatre has created eleven stage works in three years, attracting over 10 000 spectators. The world premiere of the play will be at Helsinki 98’s stage in Vuosaaren Tilajakamö on Monday 7 Dec 2026 at 19:00. The project is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture’s grant for mitigating the impact of international crises on art and culture, the City of Helsinki and the Oscar Öflund Foundation. TEAM: Writer – Iryna Serebriakova; Translation – Director and Martti‑Tapio Kuuskoski; Direction – Director; Cast – Niina Hosiasluoma, Maksim Pavlenko and Senja Rajalin; Set, lighting, video, poster – Pavel Semchenko; Sound design – Samuli Kivelä; Costume, makeup, production – Anis Kronidova; Choreography – Nina Bulgakova; Production and marketing – HELSINKI 98. Duration approx. 1 h 20 min. Recommended for audiences 15+. The director wishes to remain anonymous because of the war in Russia. Directions to Vuosaaren Tilajakamö (Vuosaarentie 7): By metro – Vuosaaren stop, walk left from the Columbus exit toward the main entrance of Vuotalo; the former Vuosaaren high school opposite is now the Tilajakamö. The walk takes about 3 minutes. By car – parking is available at Vuosaarentie 7. We reserve the right to make changes.