That's a wrap · every night sold out · thank you, Melbourne

La Mama Theatre · Explorations 2026

Trypillian Tarot

“When everything is lost, the voices of ancestors awaken.”

14-16 July 2026 · 7:30pmLa Mama Courthouse, Carlton
Hear about the next seasonAbout the Show

In creative collaboration with La Mama Theatre & Andi Snelling

Enter the prologue →
The Trypillian Tarot ensemble holding traditional Ukrainian instruments and Trypillian symbolic vessels, spiral bread and painted ritual discs.
A sold-out season · Thank you, Melbourne
Every seat, every night, gone. Thank you, Melbourne - you filled the house before we could even finish asking.

The Show

A ritual of memory & renewal

A powerful new theatrical experience exploring memory, identity, loss and renewal. Trypillian Tarot follows Yaryna through a dreamlike world rooted in the ancient Trypillian civilisation - weaving ritual performance, live music and immersive storytelling into a journey through grief, memory and transformation.

Created with the creative support and collaboration of La Mama Theatre and Andi Snelling.

Presented in English with selected Ukrainian dialogue.

  • Memory
  • Identity
  • Loss
  • Renewal

The graphic novel · reconstructed reading edition

The story, given room to breathe

New Trypillian Tarot graphic novel cover: Yaryna faces four guides across a river that becomes a glowing spiral.

A graphic novel

Trypillian
Tarot

When everything is lost,
the voices of ancestors awaken.

A new web-first edition of Yaryna’s journey through rupture, migration and return. The story cut tightens the pace to its essential scenes; the complete 65-leaf edition remains available inside the reader.

41
story cut
65
complete
3
acts
Begin the storyOpen complete edition

Full-resolution art · chapter navigation · page and scroll views · optional score

Yaryna and four musician-guides standing beside Birrarung at dawn.

Inside the new edition

Four guides. Four ways forward.

From the season

A first look

A glimpse of the sold-out 2026 season.

The Season

Three nights, July 2026

Photographs from our sold-out season at La Mama Courthouse - the ritual, the ensemble, and the room on the last night.

The Trypillian Tarot ensemble in hooded burlap cloaks and gold masks on the La Mama Courthouse stage, gathered around a lit lantern beneath a projection of Trypillian pottery.
A performer in a white embroidered dress raises a glowing vessel overhead, flanked by two cloaked figures painted with charcoal spirals.
A lone performer stands centre stage holding a candle, framed by hand-painted banners of Trypillian symbols.
Two performers sit close together on the stage floor, hands joined, in a quiet moment between scenes.
A wooden flute resting against a dried wheat and thistle wreath, lit warmly against the dark stage wall.
The full cast stand hand in hand across the stage in costume, cloaks and masks lowered.
The cast of Trypillian Tarot with arms raised in celebration at the end of the performance.
The full company takes its curtain call on the La Mama Courthouse stage before a full house.
The five performers of Trypillian Tarot together after the show, holding bouquets and smiling.

The Run

A sold-out season

The performances

All three nights played to a full house at La Mama Courthouse, and every seat of the season sold out. Thank you, Melbourne - we’re still catching our breath.

  • Tuesday 14 July7:30pmSold out
  • Wednesday 15 July7:30pmSold out
  • Thursday 16 July7:30pmSold out

There’ll be more

Hear about the next season

Trypillian Tarot will return. Leave us your email and we’ll write once, when the next season is announced - nothing else, ever.

Venue
La Mama Courthouse, 349 Drummond Street, Carlton VIC 3053
Running time
90 minutes
Age guide
14+
Language
English with selected Ukrainian dialogue
Original price
$20 per ticket
View venue on map →

Explores emotionally intense themes of grief, loss and transformation through ritual, music and symbolic performance. Recommended for ages 14+.

The Company

Cast & creative team

Creative team

  • Written, Directed & Produced by

    Iryna Karanets

  • Co-Writer

    Roman Korchev

  • Music, Composition & Poetry

    Iryna Karanets & Roman Korchev & Myron Lysenko

  • Movement & Dance

    Alina Rybalchenko & Iryna Malashkova

  • Set, Visual & Tarot Design

    Iryna Karanets & Roman Korchev

  • Costume Design

    Iryna Karanets & Nadya Korchev

  • Documentary Footage

    Serhii Sotnichenko

  • Photography

    Anastasia Hezumian

  • Video

    Viktor Plakhta

Performed by

  • Iryna Karanets
  • Roman Korchev
  • Myron Lysenko
  • Alina Rybalchenko
  • Iryna Malashkova

On screen

  • Maru JarockyjThe grandmother

The company

Pereberia

Переберія

Trypillian Tarot was made by Pereberia, a Ukrainian-Australian experimental theatre company founded in Melbourne by Iryna Karanets. Most of the people who made it arrived here because of the war.

Karanets wrote the project and entered it into La Mama’s Explorations programme, which supports the work of independent artists. It was selected - and that selection brought a La Mama team, technical support, a stage manager, and the subsidy that kept tickets at $20.

The company exists to introduce Australians to Ukraine through art: not only the war they see in the news, but the culture and history beneath it, and the ordinary human stories anyone can recognise. The show was staged in English by choice, to reach past the diaspora to a Melbourne audience.

Where the box office went

Ticket income was divided equally among everyone who made the show, with a portion set aside for Ukraine - as the company does after each of its cultural events. An earlier collection raised $700 toward buying a vehicle.

Press

SBS Ukrainian: the company in conversation, 9 July 2026In Ukrainian · 20 minutes

With Gratitude

Our partners

Trypillian Tarot is made possible by the generosity of our partners and community. Our sincere thanks to:

  • Doshado
  • Otakoi Ukrainian Restaurant
  • Ukrainian Multicultural Society of Australia Inc.
  • Axis Architects