On the eve of World Theater Day, Kyiv’s master thespians were awarded top prizes. The winners of Kyiv Pectoral-2006 were honored at the Ivan Franko Theater, but the occasion did not look very festive. The Kyiv theatrical beau monde was there in force, the winners fielded numerous congratulations, and guest stars, including the opera singers Viktoria Lukianets, Anzhelina Shvachka, and Serhii Mahera, and violinist Dmytro Tkachenko, sang and played. But the gathering soon dispersed.
Something is happening with the Pectoral. It no longer galvanizes either its organizers — the Kyiv City Administration — or theater critics, or people of the theater — actors, directors, and set designers. It would seem that the finest actors were chosen. This year’s winners received the prized statuette, diploma, and flowers as well as a much bigger cash prize of $1,000. But those who were present at the ceremony felt sadness. They resented the gaffes of the emcees, who have little connection to the theater world and did not even know how to pronounce the names of the presenters or the recipients of the Pectorals. There were also annoying technical oversights. For example, the big screens showed the nominees’ photographs but not what they were being nominated for. The members of the organizing committee tried to help the bungling emcees, whispering something from the hall to no avail.
Special prizes “For Outstanding Contributions to the Development of Theatrical Art” were conferred on Mykola Rushkovsky, the well-known actor from the Russian Drama Theater, and stage director Viktor Shuvalov, who was absent because he was busy staging the play Hunting for Two Hares at the Sevastopil Drama Theater. (On April 6 the Kyiv version of this comedy by Starytsky will celebrate the play’s jubilee, when the Molody Theater will stage the 800th production of Hunting for Two Hares.)
Kyiv’s Theater of Drama and Comedy on the Left Bank was again the undisputed leader of Kyiv Pectoral 2006, winning five out of eleven nominations. Two Pectorals each went to the Les Kurbas Center and the Kyiv Modern Ballet, a new theater which in the first 10 months of its existence has already made considerable headway in the capital’s theater world.
The Day asked theater critic Valentyna Zabolotna, a member of the Kyiv Pectoral organizing committee, why the Pectoral is floundering and what can be done to rekindle it.
“Something is already being done to raise its prestige. The cash prize has been upped from 100 to 1,000 dollars. It seems to me that this year the experts and the organizing committee were choosier about the nominees. They rejected two nominations (best debut of a director and actor) because there was no competition — and that was the right decision. As a rule, those who don’t win sling mud at the Pectoral, but those who win are only pleased. One of the winners said, ‘It’s important for me just to be nominated.’
“The three best works are chosen out of the year’s 70 premieres. This means you have been noticed, appreciated, and supported by professionals — you are already on the theatrical Olympus. I think the monetary value of the prize is also a plus. But every now and then some questions emerge, such as whether the prize program can be varied, complemented by other nominations, or granted all- Ukrainian status. There are many theaters in Kyiv (national, municipal, private, art projects, etc.), and the Pectoral evaluates the theaters in our city, because the Donbas, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, and other regions award their own theater prizes. The point is that before, it was mandatory to bring the best premieres to Kyiv from all over Ukraine, and both audiences and critics could see everything that was new and interesting. Those productions helped people to see what kind of theatrical process was going on in the country. I think it would be a good idea to restore guest tours from various regions and give them wide media coverage.
“Another thing is that the Pectoral has a boring chain of nominations, and the ceremony is practically the same from year to year. Why not introduce some intrigue and award prizes not only to the best but also to the worst, for example, by introducing a “raspberry” nomination. It would be nice to attract audiences who could give the Audience Choice award, while every theater could have a guest book for spectators. The press could also propose its own prize. Journalists see practically everything that is new out there, and they have their own views of theater productions. They are in closer contact with the spectator than theater specialists and critics, who usually assess a production according to professional criteria, noting plays that may be groundbreaking but remain unnoticed by audiences.
“I think the Kyiv Pectoral should grow and develop. Today a lot of people are skeptical about this award because everything has calmed down and become moss- covered in the past 15 years, and everyone is fed up. There is no intrigue, everything is so predictable — that’s clearly a downside. Those who come to see the Pectoral crave something new and unexpected, like sparkling champagne.”
“This year the Pectorals were awarded as fairly as never before,” says Vitalii Lynetsky, who won the Best Actor prize, as he does almost every year. “My mother would be very sad if I didn’t win the Kyiv Pectoral. I am pleased that the production of 26 Rooms and my work in it did not go unnoticed. Today, in the age of soap operas and actors’ superficial attitude to their profession, it is a gift of destiny to come across a Chekhov-level play. I worked with enormous satisfaction, but it is up to audiences to judge how convincing I was in the role of Voinitsky. 26 Rooms always plays to full houses. I am happy to work in the Theater on the Dnipro’s Left Bank. I am glad that both audiences and critics have a high regard for our productions. A strong company is the guarantee of our success. We have good stage directors, and, as a result, we win awards, including the Pectoral. Right now most of our company members are attending a theater festival in Mogilev, so we will celebrate after they come home.”
