After fleeing Ukraine, costumer Lyudmila Sokol finds a new home at OSF

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

Lyudmila Sokol smiled with something like mischief as she stepped inside the door of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s costume production area. 

“Magic. I like it,” she said. 

Before the war in Ukraine, Sokol made traditional Ukrainian costumes and children’s costumes. Before the Fabric Arts Collective shuttered, she sold her creations there. When she saw the open position at OSF, Sokol found a good home for her work and her personality. Walking to her sewing station in a bullpen maze of sewing machines and costume-clad mannequins, her smile was joy at the sight of every co-worker. 

“My friends,” she said. 

Katya Sokol, her daughter, followed her to translate for Ashland.news, relaying her mother’s apology that it has been easier for her children to learn English. She and her coworkers get by with Google translate, and over time, have learned words in each other’s languages. She pulled out a note she keeps at her desk, written in Ukrainian by an English-speaking OSF coworker. 

“Thank you very much, that was tasty,” it said, translated back to English. 

Sokol brings homemade Ukrainian food for her coworkers to try, Katya said. When asked about a slender interlocking wooden structure dangling from the ceiling across the room, Katya said the “spider” is a traditional Ukrainian craft made around Christmas time. 

“It’s giving good emotions and moods. It’s an ancient tradition. She’s bringing Ukraine with her everywhere she goes,” Katya said. 

Sokol made it for the work space. Every year the device is replaced and remade as the previous year’s negative emotions have been absorbed within it, she explained. 

Next to the solid industrial sewing machine with Sokol’s name on it was a 40-year-old skirt, long-used and carefully repaired for various productions. This project is one of several assignments Sokol receives, like all the other seamstresses in the department. She pulled out a chart with her name listed among her co-workers, costumes corresponding to various productions for this year’s season assigned to each. 

Asked about what she has enjoyed the most about working at OSF, Sokol smiled and said “magic,” again. 

Many of the secrets of costume design can’t be shared, Katya translated. Sokol looked up at the ceiling, her eyes moving back and forth as she sorted through memories of tricks she had learned and searched for one she could share. 

One simple one, Katya translated, was to make pockets for ice inside a costume. Bright lights and stages subjected to summer heat, combined with weighty period clothing, could be challenging for actors. Costume makers sometimes sewed pockets inside where freezer packs could be hidden to help actors stay cool. 

“The secrets so many, I’m not going to tell you,” Sokol said. 

When asked if she liked living in Ashland, a beam spread over her face as soon as the question was translated. 

“Yes!” she said. 

The family fled the war in October 2022, Katya said. In speaking for herself and her mother, she said it was difficult to adjust at first. Car doors slamming and other sudden noises could bring on an uncomfortable edge. They appreciated the leafy, pretty appearance of Ashland. It reminds them of the home they fled, and it’s a place where they can feel safe in more ways than one. 

“Not judgment, they tell her to just feel with openness to emotions,” Katya said. 

Whenever Sokol is homesick or reads particularly bad news from home, her co-workers are always there for her. 

“She’s trying to not think about home too much, it’s overwhelming. She’s really thankful to the people that helped her, that helped make things work for her,” Katya said. 

Standing downstairs near the hat fitting room, Sokol’s colleague Marilyn Langeberg passed by. Her work station is behind Sokol’s. When asked about working closely with a language barrier, Langeberg confessed it sometimes takes work. 

“I’d say, ‘Hem it back two inches,’ she’d say ‘inch?’ It’s hard, but fun. She’s taught us some techniques we hadn’t used before,” she said. 

Asked about a small disco ball in one of the rooms, Langeberg said staff have a 3 p.m. dance break most days. The heavy concentration and frequent long periods of sitting in costume production have to be contended with somehow. 

“Her skill is very much appreciated,” Langeberg said. “You can’t just walk in off the street and do this job.” 

“We love her.” 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].