The Reckoning

The Reckoning comes to the Belgrade Theatre on Thursday 28, Friday 29 and Saturday 30 January, with each performance starting at 7.45pm. It's a new play by Dash Arts about war and survival, and it's not a traditional one. The story follows a journalist who travels to a small town outside Kyiv to interview 'The Man from Stoyanka', an ordinary security guard who stayed put when everyone else fled. It's a vivid and unsettling piece about the fragile trust between those who uncover the truth and those who have to live with it.

What makes it stand out is how it's put together. It blends storytelling, movement, music and live cooking: a Ukrainian salad is prepared on stage and served to the audience. The play draws from The Reckoning Project's verified archive of witness testimonies from the war in Ukraine, so the stories it tells come from real people. It's written by Anastasiia Kosodii and Josephine Burton and directed by Burton, with two Ukrainian actors and two British actors on stage. Each performance is followed by 'Food for Thought', a five-minute reflection from a journalist, a lawyer or someone with direct experience of the conflict.

The Reckoning Project itself was founded by war correspondent and academic Janine di Giovanni and disinformation expert Peter Pomerantsev in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Dash Arts, the company staging the show, was co-founded by Josephine Burton back in 2005. The play premiered at the Arcola Theatre in May 2025, where it was nominated for Best Creation at the Offies and The Guardian gave that run four stars.

Tickets start from £12, which includes the booking fee. The running time is about an hour and a half. It's recommended for ages 12 and over and contains strobe and flashing lights as well as strong language. The Belgrade is on Corporation Street, CV1 1GS.