The play Vania est vivant by Natalia Lizorkina, a Russian writer living in exile, had its premiere in Paris at the Local des Autrices, a venue founded by Sarah Pèpe that focuses on promoting female voices in writing. The performance was directed and acted by Ivanka Polchenko, a Russian actress and director who has lived in France for more than 20 years. Polchenko translated the play with the assistance of Elena Gordienko and Antoine Nicolle. The production was created by the company L'Oeil épissé sur âme pure and was first shown at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023, with support from Lubimovka Festival, Pushkin House, and Exchange Theatre. It has also been selected for the 2024-2025 season of the Bureau des lectures of the Comédie-Française, a prestigious French theater institution. The play ran from October 2 to October 11, 2026, at the Local des Autrices in Paris. It features only one actor, Polchenko, who performs all the roles, challenging traditional theatrical norms to reflect the confusion and disorder of war. Written during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the play serves as a form of resistance against the emotional numbness brought about by war. While the play does not directly mention the war or a specific country, Russia is subtly implied through its absence from the narrative. The story follows Alia, a mother who learns early on in the military operations that her son has died. Through Alia's experience, the play explores how war and propaganda affect individuals, using language as a space of deep discomfort to highlight the gap between words and their true meanings. The play was initially chosen for the Lioubimovka festival, an independent Russian-language contemporary theater event established in 1990. Since 2022, the festival has held smaller events called "Echoes of Lioubimovka" in various countries where Russian authors are in exile. The play’s minimalistic staging and lighting design reflect the difficulties faced by theater and art in environments marked by violence and repression. The original text was first performed by actor Nikolaï Moulakov before being translated and staged by Polchenko. The play lasts for one hour and five minutes, offering a powerful and concise exploration of war’s impact on personal and collective memory.