Ursa Major

Cast: 6 (3 female/non-binary/trans, 3 open casting, all singers)

It is the 1920s-30s in Stalin’s Soviet Union. A crystallographer from Tbilisi studies clay minerals. A mathematician from Moscow educates the next generation. A Jewish poet writes in the face of censorship. When the lives of these three women intertwine, their forbidden love has unforeseen impacts. And all the while, the rocks are shifting… Inspired by the stories of three real Soviet women and three atoms in a rock near them, and featuring Ukrainian folk songs, URSA MAJOR is a love story of resilience, perspective, and the heritage of our lives on Earth.

COMMISSION - The Ensemble Studio Theatre / Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project, 2022
DEVELOPMENT - Roundabout Theatre Company / Berkshire Theatre Group, 2023
DEVELOPMENT - The Civilians’ R&D Group, 2022-23 (read the press release and Xandra’s essay about the process)
READING - The Civilians’ FINDINGS Series at Classic Stage Company, June 2023. Directed by Dina Vovsi. Featuring actors Becca Blackwell, Sagan Chen, Zoë Geltman, Merritt Janson, Pauli Pontrelli, and Stacey Raymond; and Ukrainian folk singers Iryna Kit, Natalie Oshukany, and Ulana Pryjmak. Stage Directions read by Sarah Alice Shull.