Shelter from the Storm: Two Recent Shakespeare Stagings by the Ivano-Frankivsk Drama Theatre

Oksana Fedorkiv; David Livingstone

doi:10.18778/2083-8530.31.19

Autor

Oksana Fedorkiv Karpacki Narodowy Uniwersytet imienia Wasyla Stefanyka https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4762-6564
David Livingstone Palacký University Olomouc https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3973-0620

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-8530.31.19

Słowa kluczowe:

Shakespeare in Ukraine, theatrical adaptation, experimental theatre, Ivano-Frankivsk Theatre, Rostyslav Derzhypilskyi, Oleksii Hnatkovskyi

Abstrakt

This paper examines two recent Shakespeare productions by the Ivan Franko National Drama Theatre staged in Ivan-Frankivsk, Ukraine: Hamlet and Twelfth Night. The classic tragedy is directed by Rostyslav Derzhypilskyi, and the celebrated comedy by the actor Oleksii Hnatkovskyi, who also plays the title role in Hamlet. Both productions function as a shelter, in a literal and metaphorical sense. The Hamlet production opened in 2017 and became known for its use of a contemporary-sounding new translation by the Ivano-Frankivsk native, Yurii Andrukhovych, as well as the new basement stage adapted for the post-apocalyptic production. It soon literally became a bomb shelter, used as temporary housing for refugees from Eastern Ukraine, as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. The staging of Twelfth Night as literally drama therapy in action consisted of a performance by Ukrainian soldiers utilising an abridged English text of the play. The performance served as a psychotherapeutic session and demonstrated the healing power of Shakespeare’s plays.

The present article focuses on how this regional Ukrainian theatre has unexpectedly become a cutting-edge venue for Shakespeare performance and, more importantly, a spiritual and intellectual shelter for not only the audience, but also the performers.

Biogramy autorów

Oksana Fedorkiv - Karpacki Narodowy Uniwersytet imienia Wasyla Stefanyka

Oksana Fedorkiv, PhD (Art Studies), is an Associate Professor at the Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, where she teaches at the Department of Performing Arts and Choreography. Her research focuses on contemporary Shakespearean performance, musical dramaturgy, postdramatic theatre, and the interaction between drama and music in modern stage practices. She is actively involved in the academic and cultural life of the region and has contributed to the development of the Ivano-Frankivsk International Shakespeare Festival (Ukraine, 2024). Her recent publications explore genre transformations in modern Shakespeare productions, with particular attention to neo-opera, dramma per musica, and Ukrainian theatrical interpretations of Shakespeare.
David Livingstone - Palacký University Olomouc

David Livingstone is an American academic who has taught at the Department of English and American Studies at Palacký University, Czechia, for the last thirty years. He teaches Shakespeare, British and Irish Modernism, Czech culture, children’s literature and American folk music. His most recent book, In Our Own Image: Fictional Representations of William Shakespeare, looks at the wealth of novels, plays, short stories, films, television series and even comics focused on Shakespeare as a character. He is currently completing a collection of essays dealing with North American folk music.

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