Українська радіовистава «Ненароджені для війни» отримала премію BBC Audio Drama Awards

Source: Radio Culture.

The radio play "Unborn for War," created by Radio Culture in collaboration with the Third Army Corps, won the BBC Audio Drama Awards in the "Best European Drama" category. The award recognises the diversity, originality and high quality of audio projects and is considered one of the most important in the field of audio production.

The winners were announced on 1 March 2026 during a ceremony at the Radio Theatre in the BBC Broadcasting House in London.

The producer and director of the play, Svitlana Svyrydko, said that the news of the victory was a powerful emotional moment for the team.

"The news of the victory took our breath away. It is excitement, pride, gratitude, and a new height that you have conquered and must maintain, and a challenge not to stop there. We believe in our victory and are infinitely grateful to our defenders who protect us, and we must do our best to match their courage and victory. We and they must be heard and remembered, that we, Ukrainians, pay the price for the opportunity to live freely and create freely. "Unborn for War" is about the life of a Ukrainian defender as it is. It is the life of a person who did not dream and does not dream of becoming a hero, but is ready to defend, to fight for his life and the lives of his loved ones, for his dreams, love, and country," said Svitlana Svyrydko.

The radio play "Not Born for War" is based on the real stories of volunteers who stood up to defend Ukraine and took part in assault operations on the front lines. The play features stories from the front about the daily life of Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines from soldiers of the Third Army Corps.

The stories in the play are narrated not by a professional actor, but by a soldier, Yevhen Avdeenko, who left the theatre to go to the front.

The author of the script, Anatoliy Neyolov, noted that the main goal of the play was to convey to the audience that war cannot and should not become the norm. At the same time, he said, even in the most difficult circumstances, Ukrainians retain their humanity, dignity and sense of humour.

"When we talk about war, we are essentially talking about the souls of different people, and through the souls of these different people, we are talking about the soul of Ukraine as a whole, which is at war and faces a choice: to surrender or never to surrender. We do not give up, and the worse the situation, the harder we fight. That was the main reason for the creation of the play. And most importantly: war is a tragedy. But the play we have created, the text that has emerged, is tragicomic. Someone great once said that the world was saved because it laughed. Under such pressure, we have not ceased to be human beings; we live with sadness and tears, but we smile and rejoice in life, we love, we believe. This is important to us," said Anatoliy Neyolov.

You can listen to the radio play "Unborn for War" on the Radio Culture website.

This work has already received international recognition. The play was shortlisted for the Prix Italia international competition in the "Radio and Podcasts" category and also received a special award from the Prix Europa 2025 European competition in the "Audio Fiction" category.

The team that worked on the radio version of the one-man show "Unborn for War" included:

• scriptwriter — Anatoliy Neyolov

• lead role — Yevhen Avdeenko

• Producer and director — Svitlana Svyrydko

• editor, editor, translator and editor of the English version — Kateryna Avramenko

• Recording director — Maryna Goltsova