It’s hard to imagine a play more fitting for the Halloween season than In the Wilderness of Demons, now running at the American Theatre of Actors, just a few blocks from the bustle of Columbus Circle in New York.
In the Wilderness of Demons is a Ukrainian folk thriller based on a play by American dramatist Don Nigro, one of the most frequently produced contemporary playwrights.
At first, it seems like pure folklore: a cottage, a solitary woman with a witch’s reputation, rag dolls, and that quiet Ukrainian night. But within ten minutes it becomes clear that this isn’t an ethnographic tale — it’s a modern drama about guilt, memory, and the demons within us, told in a mystical setting that feels instantly familiar, echoing the atmosphere of Nikolai Gogol’s stories from the village of Dikanka.
In the Wilderness of Demons, despite its folk-inspired atmosphere, feels strikingly modern — both in its storyline and in its pacing. I wouldn’t hesitate to compare it to Darren Aronofsky’s brilliant film Mother! with Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem.
In both works, a woman stands at the center of the space. She keeps the order, the silence, the inner rhythm. And then a guest appears — seemingly by chance. In the film, it’s a stranger knocking on the door without explanation; in the play, a folklorist who drops by “just to talk.” In both worlds, everything looks accidental, almost mundane, yet it’s from this visit that the domino effect begins.
What first appears as curiosity soon turns into intrusion. The guest brings with her a foreign energy, asking questions that were never meant to be asked. In both stories, the audience feels the same thing — that something is about to happen, though it’s impossible to say what. On the surface, everything seems calm, but inside — the catastrophe has already begun. The space itself reacts: the walls seem to listen, the light starts to breathe differently, and the objects come to life.
A special compliment must be given to the choreographer and the dance ensemble for the way objects seem to come alive on stage. The four dancers — Shoko Tamai, Marija Obradovic, Evelina Pristovsek, and Uren Kamyshev — appear at the beginning like living dolls, faceless and without defined characters. Their movement feels more like an ancient ritual than choreography, as if they embody not fabric and thread, but the breath of ancestors and centuries of tradition. Gradually, through the course of the play, their dance intertwines with the story and emotions of the two main heroines so organically that one becomes impossible to imagine without the other.
Shoko Tamai — Japanese dancer and choreographer, winner of international awards including the Solo Seal from the Royal Academy of Dance and a Gold Medal at the New York Ballet Competition.
Evelina Pristovsek — Slovenian dancer and musical theater actress, AMDA (New York) graduate, combining contemporary dance, vocals, and piano; recipient of international festival awards and author of the album First Evening on Spotify
Marija Obradovic — Serbian dancer and instructor, performer in New York’s acclaimed immersive show Sleep No More, known for her emotional precision and depth of interpretation.
Iren Kamyshev — Israeli dancer, choreographer, and producer based in New York, recognized for her structured yet expressive approach and passion for creating vivid stage imagery.
At the heart of the story are two women whose meeting sets in motion a process that can no longer be reversed. Oksana (Iryna Malygina) is a witch, cut off from the world, living in a house where faceless rag dolls seem to preserve memories better than people do. Once, she encountered a demon — or perhaps her own guilt that took on a body. She is withdrawn, weary, proud, and there is something almost sacred in her solitude. Nina (Tatyana Kot) is a young folklorist from the city who arrives to collect stories about demons and spirits. At first, she observes from a distance, armed with logic and a pencil, but the longer she stays in the house, the more she becomes drawn into its spell — beginning to hear things that should not exist.
Between them arises not just a dialogue but a duel of worldviews: faith against knowledge, experience against curiosity, fear against doubt. Gradually, the boundaries blur, and we can no longer tell who is studying whom — and who is destroying whom.
Iryna Malygina — New York–based actress and producer of Ukrainian origin, holder of a Master’s degree in Performing Arts, with over 40 roles in Ukrainian television series, and recently starring as the main antagonist in the horror feature The Mountain King.
Tatyana Kot — New York–based theater and dance artist, choreographer, and multiple festival award winner, holding a Master’s degree in History and Archaeology, who has choreographed nine world premieres, including plays by Don Nigro and John Patrick Shanley.
The choreography in In the Wilderness of Demons is the heroines’ second language — one that speaks alongside their words and reveals what cannot be said aloud. The dance begins as a cautious exploration of space but gradually turns into a confrontation — two bodies circling, approaching, retreating, as the tension grows with every movement. Light and shadow seem to breathe with them, and at some point, it’s no longer clear where fear ends and attraction begins. This dance isn’t about form, but about a state of being — when the story continues not through words, but through the body.
Both in Aronofsky’s film and in this play, the finale leads to a true catharsis — a moment when destruction becomes purification, and pain suddenly turns into understanding. And — it’s worth noting — the one hour and five minutes of the play pass like a single breath.
The production’s director, Eduard Tolokonnikov, is a master of atmosphere. In his world, there are no random details: light, pauses, and movement are arranged with precision that holds the audience’s attention more powerfully than any special effects. He builds the performance as a dialogue — alive, focused, and sincere. Thanks to this approach, the play feels modern and natural, maintaining quiet intensity until the very end.
In the Wilderness of Demons was produced by MOVA Productions NYC, an independent theater company founded in New York by a team of artists with Ukrainian roots. The company’s main mission is to give voice to stories from Eastern Europe on the American stage and to bring together diverse cultural traditions within one creative space.
In the Wilderness of Demons is the company’s first major project, and it already shows that MOVA isn’t afraid to take risks: the team chose complex, unconventional material and turned it into a performance where Ukrainian folklore meets New York theater.
📍 Address: American Theatre of Actors (Cullum Theatre) / 314 W 54th Street, New York, NY 10019
💳 Ticket prices range from $50 to $70
🎟️ Tickets are available at movatheater.com, upcoming shows:
Tuesday, October 28 @ 7:30pm
Wednesday, October 29 @ 7:30pm
Thursday, October 30 @ 7:30pm
Friday, October 31 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, November 1 @ 3:00pm & 7:30pm
Sunday, November 2 @ 3:00pm
