"Secrets of the Forest," One-Man Show About Ukraine, Receives University Prize
August 12, 2008
George Wyhinny '08 was awarded the Robert M. Golden Medal for Excellence in the Humanities and the Creative Arts in July 2008 for writing and starring in the one-man show "Secrets of the Forest." The Golden Medal is awarded by the University annually to acknowledge outstanding work by Stanford graduating seniors.
Wyhinny's play, sponsored by the Stanford Drama Department, was performed
for three nights in May and June in the Prosser Studio Theater in Memorial
Hall and tells the story of Ukrainian life in the 1930s and 1940s, when
Ukraine in alternating periods fell under Soviet and Nazi control. Wyhinny
worked with Amy Freed, Drama Department Artist-in-Residence, to create a
dramatic adaptation of the novel he had written on this topic. In the novel
and the play, a young man wants to know what really happened to his family
in Ukraine decades ago. He travels to Ukraine to ask questions of survivors
about the dark past in an effort to uncover the tragic family history that
remains shrouded in secrecy. From the surrealistic mixture of fantasy and
reality in the Bykivnia Forest near Kyiv, the young man elicits responses to
troubling questions.
The story behind the play is based on actual family experiences, and Wyhinny
performs not only the lead role of the young man seeking out the historical
truth, but also a dazzling array of ten other characters. There is never a
dull moment for the hour-and-a-half duration of the play in which Wyhinny,
with the help of a few props, creates the illusion of a rich and varied cast
of characters inhabiting this haunting recreation of the past. Most
memorably, Wyhinny performs the role of "Baba" (Grandmother) -- the only
remaining storyteller of the family's Ukrainian history -- with perfect
poise. (The inspiration for "Baba," Wyhinny's actual grandmother, was
present at one of the Stanford performances of the play.)
George Wyhinny began acting as a junior in high school and studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). As an undergraduate at Stanford, he performed in many campus productions, including Harold Pinter's "Betrayal" (2008), Stan Lai's "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land" (2007), Eugene Ionesco's "Frenzy for Two, or More" (2006-07) and many others. He was a member of the Stanford a capella group Talisman and worked on the Stanford Student Film Festival. Wyhinny graduated from Stanford in June 2008 with a major in drama, and a minor in English. He plans to pursue a career as an actor and director in theatre, television, and film.
Reported by Lessia Jarboe