Set in the early days of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, The Order of Neatly Made Beds is a documentary-style theatrical collage that explores how war is experienced through the voices of ordinary people caught in its machinery. Through monologues and fragmented scenes, the play juxtaposes the perspectives of a Russian soldier sent to fight, his mother struggling to understand his fate, and members of a soldiers’ mothers’ advocacy group confronting the human cost of war. Moving between personal memories, propaganda rhetoric, and everyday digital communication, the play exposes the tragic gap between official narratives and lived reality. The result is a darkly ironic and emotionally charged portrait of how individuals become entangled in state violence, raising questions about responsibility, denial, and the quiet devastation war leaves in its wake.
Lena Lagushonkova is a playwright, writer, and screenwriter, born in 1984 in Ukraine. Finalist of the international “Aurora” competition (2021, 2023) and winner of the European Drama Award (2022). Plays based on her texts are staged in Ukraine, Poland, Norway, Georgia, and Germany. The play “Kortes” was named the best chamber theater production by the ‘GRA’ Festival (2024). The autofiction novel “My Flag Was Stolen by a Cat” was named the best book of 2025 by the BBC.
Director: Jillian Jetton
Jillian Jetton is a director, producer, and curator of new performance. With support from HERE Arts Center, a NYSCA Commission, and OPERA America, she is developing SEE/UNSEE by Lila Blue, a song cycle séance inspired by the painter and mystic Hilma af Klint. This project has been shown at Ars Nova and The Brick (PRISM Festival), and developed in residence at Z Space. Most recently, she directed the sold-out run of my utopias by Jay Stull in the Exponential Festival. Alongside Matthew Antoci, Jetton stewards and co-curates SalOn!, a quarterly gathering of micro-acts founded by Theresa Buchheister in 2014 (@salonseriesbk). MFA Sarah Lawrence College, BA Brown University, Headlong Performance Institute, Mercury Store
Directing Lab. jillianjetton.com
Stage Manager: Madison Figueroa-Diaz
Assistant Director: Kamilah Mariam
Cast: Raquel Chavez, Jennifer Ikeda, Kamilah Mariam, Frankie Placidi, Ned Riseley, Derek Smith
