ON OUR RADAR

The Shadow: a Devon for Ukraine fundraiser

Soviet playwright Evgengy Schwartz’ poetic and philosophical retelling of a Hans Christian Anderson tale is a subversive fable about choices we make for social and political gain and for love.

Leigh Curtis

Maketank will host performances of The Shadow to raise funds for Devon Ukrainian Association and the Conversation Café on Tuesday 24 May.

Soviet playwright Evgengy Schwartz’ famous poetic and philosophical retelling of a Hans Christian Anderson tale is a subversive fable about choices we make for social and political gain and for love.

It centres on a naive young scholar who finds himself wandering through a mystical land where the corruption in the social order reflects the corruption of the government.

Both fear anything and anyone that threatens reform because it promises the end of privilege.

The Shadow, Tuesday 24 May 2022 at Maketank, Exeter

Written in 1940 at the height of Stalinist expansion of the USSR, when Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova were all annexed under military occupation, The Shadow dissects what happens when our desires carry us in one direction but others parts of our natures take us elsewhere.

This production grew out of a university student project mentored by Maketank’s Olya Petrakova but has taken on a life of its own, just as the shadow does in the play.

Subscribe to The Exeter Digest - Exeter Observer's essential free email newsletter

Your personal information will be processed and stored in accordance with our Privacy Policy

All proceeds will be donated to the Devon Ukrainian Association and the Conversation Café, a city centre support hub created in the first few weeks of the war to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine and support Ukrainians who are fleeing the Russian invasion to find new homes in the south west.

The Shadow is at 2pm and 7pm on Tuesday 24 May 2022 at Maketank, and is presented in collaboration with Arts & Culture University of Exeter.

Tickets via Eventbrite. Twenty free tickets are available for Ukrainian nationals.


Democracy doesn't work when people don't know who is deciding what on whose behalf and what the costs and consequences of those decisions will be.

Exeter Observer is proving that reader-funded media can deliver the independent public interest journalism our local democracy needs.

Upgrade to a paid Exeter Observer subscription to support our work and get access to exclusive premium content and more.

More stories
2024-25 Devon County Council locality budget community grants allocations by Exeter councillor

Heavitree & Whipton Barton community groups miss out on £14,600 after Danny Barnes fails to sign funding agreements

Voluntary sector grants now lost following 12% councillor attendance record highlighting need for by-elections in absentee cases.

Suspended Devon and Cornwall Police Chief Constable Will Kerr

Criminal investigation into suspended Devon & Cornwall Police Chief Constable dropped

Will Kerr to remain suspended while IOPC resumes previously paused conduct investigation and interim chief constable James Vaughan continues to lead force.

2024 duration in hours of monitored spill events at water company overflow sites bar graph

South West Water bills rise by a third following worst performance in sector with 550,000 hours of sewage spills

Tariffs increase as Environment Agency publishes damning data after South West Water owner Pennon Group issues £24.5 million in dividends to shareholders.

Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority inaugural meeting 19 March 2025

Devon & Torbay CCA sets sail for regional democratic deficit with £500,000 crew

Combined county authority throws public accountability overboard as future regional strategic governance body ratifies constitution at inaugural meeting but fails to explain why so many staff needed to deliver so little at such colossal cost.

Exeter Post Office in Guildhall Shopping Centre WHSmith

Sidwell Street Post Office to close as WHSmith shops sale raises risk of Exeter city centre counter service disappearance

Closure follows loss of Exeter’s last Crown Post Office in Bedford Street, since when all city branches operated by franchisees or independent businesses.

Exeter local elections campaign materials

Help hold Devon’s political parties and politicians to account during the 2025 local elections

Send us any campaign materials you receive so we can fact-check candidates’ claims and hold them to their pledges after the votes have been counted.