Living Through Uncertainty

Living Through Uncertainty

A Playback Theatre Performance at ceecon26

Living Through Uncertainty invites participants to explore how people live through moments when the future is unclear. By bringing together research, storytelling, and performance, the event transforms uncertainty from an abstract concept into a shared human experience.

As part of ceecon26, congress participants and members of the wider public are invited to an interactive Playback Theatre performance inspired by four years of the Ukraine Research Network (UNET).

For researchers working on Eastern Europe, uncertainty is more than an analytical concept. It is also a lived reality that shapes academic work, professional trajectories, personal identities, and everyday decisions. The UNET project, hosted by ZOiS, was born in precisely such a context. Over four years, it connected scholars across borders during the Russian war against Ukraine, supporting research, professional development, networking, and public engagement while many participants navigated profound disruptions in their personal and professional lives.

For this event, audience members share stories inspired by the theme of uncertainty that are immediately interpreted and performed by actors and musicians. Participants may draw on experiences related to war, migration, research, professional transitions, identity, belonging, political change, or everyday moments of unpredictability. There is no need to prepare stories – they will be born during the performance.

As stories accumulate, the performance creates a collective portrait of uncertainty in contemporary Europe: not only as a condition of crisis, but also as a space of adaptation, creativity, solidarity, and hope.

The performers: Anastasiia Dunaieva, Altea Garrido, Rémy Fernandes-Dandré, Olha Mikliaieva, Valentin Hoffmann and Yuliia Terentieva