When you dig into your family history, you may often discover details of your relatives’ lives that are hard to digest. For example, in my family, my first cousin once removed was a murderer. The Division by Project: Humanity in association with Crow’s Theatre, examines the impact of a Ukrainian-Canadian man’s discovery about his recently deceased grandfather’s participation in WWII. Written and directed by Andrew Kushnir, the memoir play opens with Kushnir (played by Murdoch Mysteries‘ Daniel Maslany) writing a letter to his six-year-old nephew, Lev. The letter is intended to pass on family history and is not to be read until 15 years into the future, at which time, Kushnir hopes that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has ended and conditions in the Ukraine have improved. Maslany as Kushnir reads portions of the letter to the audience throughout the play – a framing device that effectively provides cohesion to the narrative.
Kushnir’s grandfather became an expert watchmaker and when Kushnir inherits one of his grandfather’s pocket watches, he decides to take a trip to the Ukraine and Europe to discover more about his roots. He is also unsettled by an online comment about accusations against his grandfather.
Kushnir interviews several people in Europe who were associated with his grandfather and discovers that his grandfather was part of the Waffen-SS unit responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Polish people in the Ukraine. His grandfather and many other members of the unit later became members of The Division, the first Ukraine national army. Many of the members of The Division emigrated to the U.K. and Canada with minimal screening by both governments.
Kushnir also learns that his grandfather was taken as a POW during WWII, but managed to escape with the help of Polish soldiers.
Kushnir later speaks to a Polish couple in their 90s (played with poignant sensitivity by Khomutova and Nashman), who had lived in a village with Ukrainians. The couple tell of the Russians coming to murder the Ukrainians while the Ukrainians killed the Polish people, including children. When Kushnir asks why, the husband responds, “Ukrainians hated Polish people.” This is a full circle moment for Kushnir, who has to reconcile the information that his grandfather may have participated in the killing of Polish people – the same people who rescued him from the war.
Highlighting one of the themes of the play about the unreliable memory of history, Kushnir hears from a British historian that “the fewer times you revisit a memory, the more likely it is to be accurate.” So memories are not only clouded and layered by future events, and thus become distorted, but the play also asks if the victors are indeed the writers of history, how do future generations learn the perspectives of the defeated?
Actors Karl Ang, Ivy Charles, Mariya Khomutova and Alon Nashman each play various roles with panache and fortitude. Ang is a formidable actor with highly-wired intensity that brings to life many of his roles including that of Kushnir’s uncle. Nashman’s low key presence underscores his immense talent. Maslany brings his personal charm to the role of Kushnir and carefully and conscientiously develops his character to evolve from a devoted grandson on a mission of discovery to someone who is jarred by the truth of his grandfather’s life.
All of the actors are blessed with incredible ears, but particularly Ang, Charles and Nashman for their mastery of accents, especially the British and Scottish ones.
The Studio Theatre space is intimate, which doesn’t give a lot of room for staging, but Sim Suzer and Niloufar Ziaee’s frequent set changes effectively help create scenes that include a library, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a tour of Auschwitz, and the living room of a senior couple. Kushnir’s direction is fast-paced, with the timeline moving from country to country and year to year, but fortunately, this is aided by screen projections announcing the location and year.
Thankfully, the play is not without comedic moments, particularly when Nashman appears as Trudeau and Ang portrays Poilievre in preposterously funny turns during the incident when the speaker of the House of Commons gave a tribute to a Ukrainian-Canadian who turned out to have served in a Nazi military unit.
The Division encourages us to develop a more finetuned response to war conflict that balances not blaming the oppressed for the alleged atrocities of their ancestors with painting one side or another with one brush stroke. The Division is disturbing, dynamic theatre at its most disruptive.
The Division at Crow’s Theatre is being performed from April 21, 2026 to May 24, 2026. Run time is 100 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are Adult $107.35, $90.40; Senior $85.88, $72.32. Purchase tickets online at Crow’s Theatre.
You may be interested in reading, “Events and Things to Do in Toronto in May 2026“
The truth is that there is little that is historically true about this dog’s breakfast of a play. It’s not worth a watch.
This is like walking on red-hot coals without realizing they are burning your feet.
The review pretends that the play is a revelation of the past worthy of
serious consideration. Sadly, the writer is as ignorant of the history
that was involved as was the playwright.
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