Competition is impossible in art, because there are no objective criteria for its evaluation. Art is precious in its subjective perception, in the unique experience of an individual.
This experience nurtures and grows the spiritual fruit. The worth of this fruit is the strategic value of the people. An unworthy one dies unrecognized; a strong-willed and honest person prevails.
In unison, albeit in very diverse ways, Ukrainian theaters speak the same wisdom. This year of theatrical life was saturated by the desire to find peace for an uneasy heart.
Over the past few years, the 24 theaters financially supported by the city have been complemented by 68 other theatrical collectives. They are of different organizational and economic structures; they use premises which are not suited for theaters; they stage shows, mysteries, and something not precisely defined by its genre. Their life is theater; they are serving it and love it. A lover’s soul, as the saying goes, lives in someone else’s body. The audience feels it, and gratefully accepts with appreciation.
Nowadays, this interesting and powerful sphere of the theatrical world deserves the support of local authorities. The Kyiv creative branch of the National Union of Theatrical Workers has made a proposal to the Department of Culture to establish another drama prize for these knights of the theatrical business. The proposal has seen green light, and the “Stsenohray” award has received the state support.
It is important to stress that in naming nominees, the Kyiv Pectoral does not diminish the value of other works, which skillfully and responsibly continue the tradition respected by the audience. Moreover, all those who work in the theater are very well aware of the risks that any experiment entails in such economic conditions as we have now, although theater is always glad to see something new.
It is also impossible to have universal evaluation criteria. This year’s expert group has put a musical performance of a dramatic theater in a competition with performances of musical theaters; a chamber show for the audience of 21 has entered the Top 5 side by side with a performance on well-furnished stage in a hall for 140 seats.
Perhaps it will make dramatic theaters more musical and musical ones more dramatic. But this will definitely not bring any more attention to the expressive means of a chamber performance, where a theater creates something out of nothing, in any circumstances. A pleasant surprise was brought by the performance of the Municipal puppet theater, which has been included in the list of dramatic theaters’ works.
But the most important thing is that the art produced by Kyiv professional theaters finds concordance with the pressing social issues. The theaters respond clearly to the anxiety brought by the new circumstances, to the sharpness of the non-monetary inflation, to the all-pervading war. Everything we have seen with our eyes, they try to communicate through the heart. They emphasize: an unrighteous person lives in fear, a righteous one is accompanied by courage. They say: unhappiness is prone to blame others. They implore us to think every second about what good we can do for others.
Yes, the circumstances have changed. But we have changed also. What is the world that we seek? Is it one according to Cicero, “I prefer the most unfair peace to the most righteous war” or the one by Machiavelli: “Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error”? The principal virtue of a theater is to kill a war!
Of course, I am not talking about some cheap propaganda. And there is none of it in any of the performances. But the power of words spoken onstage becomes apparent when the world-famous musical demonstrates a documentary footage that underlines the similarities between the Nazi occupation and Putin’s actions; when the radioactive humor borders the truth of life in the Chornobyl exclusion zone.
Les Kurbas used to say: “The actor on stage exists in a restricted space. To overcome this limitation, we must look for such forms of theatrical expression that would be able to communicate the unrestricted human nature and its relationship with the universal space.”
And there is yet another important thing: the continuity of the dialog between the actor and the audience during the performance. The islands of concentrated silence in the hot ocean of words teach us prudent speech, which we need so badly nowadays. For enlightenment dispels the fatality of evil.
There are too few names in a very short list those credited by the experts. The schedule of performances often makes a sharp correction. The dissatisfaction with the experts’ decision is natural. They say that even the Saints sometimes fall into jealousy. Actors die from the lack of praise, theaters – from the lack of attendance. So come, see, and decide for yourself what do you like best.
