THE BLUE WHALE

To me, The Blue Whale is a scream. A loud scream that is trying to say that we don't live in a cruel world – we live in a world full of cruel people. Everyone has a name and an address. We can't define evil; we know that it repeats itself.

Thanks to project Forum of Youth Authors 10, I found myself working as a radio creator for the first time. I had never considered radio an attractive medium before. (To be honest, when Oleksandr and I were working on post-production, it felt more like solving maths problems than creation process. One second back, one forward, and one more sound here to make the equation fit.) However, I learned how important it is to listen, how motifs can be built through sound, and which detail the human ear associates with which emotion.

I feel that I fell in love with radio because of its inner peace and simplicity, which provide an ideal environment for deeper immersion in the sonic possibilities of our language, the weight of our words, and the picturesque nature of everyday sounds.

I don't know how many times I've heard The Blue Whale or how much time I've spent on it. No matter how chilling its content is, it has become a safe place for me. Šaňo (Oleksandr) and I listened to it together for the last time at Theatre Night 2024. We knew exactly when each sound would come and when each line would be spoken – we knew the play inside out. I think it's probably the fact that we know it so well that gives us a sense of security. Maybe we should get to know things better.

The radio play The Blue Whale was nominated in the international competition Prix Europa for the Rising Star 2023 award.