The equipment was restored and repaired.”Īfter Russian forces were driven back from parts of eastern Ukraine by a Ukrainian counteroffensive last year, many fields were left covered in mines, making it perilous for farmers to sow grain for the next harvest. The tractor is safe, the mechanics were not here. “We started doing this just because the crop sowing time has come and we can’t do anything, because the rescue services are very busy.” He came up with the idea after deciding he couldn't wait for overworked official deminers to clear his field in the village of Hrakove. Oleksandr Kryvtsov, the general manager at his agricultural company, has kitted out his tractor with protective panels stripped from Russian tanks and operates it by remote control. Tickets from £12.STORY: A Ukrainian farmer has come up with a novel idea to remove mines left in his fields after Russia's invasion.

Under the direction of Mark Babych, whose bustling production includes Ukrainian folk song and dance, there’s a strong performance from the cast, topped by Geoffrey Beevers as the twinkly-eyed Nikolai – who’s much taken with his leggy, younger wife.įor all its humour – including actors popping up through the packing trunks that form part of the stage set – it’s a moving drama about getting on when life’s giving you a kicking. It also makes this drama something more than a funny clash of cultures, by making us aware of the grim life the family left – through flashbacks to their escape from Stalin’s brutal regime in the Soviet Union. It’s something which the novelist, writing in the programme notes, said had brought a tear to her eye. In this adaptation of the best-selling novel, playwright Tanika Gupta has tweaked the storyline by placing Nikolai’s late wife as the show’s narrator. His daughters – Nadezdha and Vera – are, unsurprisingly, less than impressed at his plans to marry her. Hull Truck’s production captures the comedy and the pathos of the tale, which follows the family fall-out after Nikolai, a widowed, 84-year-old Ukrainian living in the UK, falls for the 36-year-old gold digger Valentina. Now Marina Lewycka’s quirkily-titled, and quirkily-themed, A Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian has arrived on stage.

It was the best-selling novel which sold more than a million copies.

A history of tractors in ukrainian