Ivano-Frankivsk to become cultural Mecca

Ivano-Frankivsk is hosting the third international art festival “Carpathian Space” on May 4 to 6. This time it will include not only cultural projects, but also educational programs.

Eighteen countries will take part in the forum. The planned events are in the field of theater, cinema, and music. For example, the national readings “Lina Kostenko Unites” will turn Ivano-Frankivsk into a space of Ukrainian high poetry, while the ART SPACE location will present contemporary artworks in the city’s key places – from Sheptytsky Square to museum halls.

According to stage director and theatrical segment curator Stas ZHYRKOV, the program will comprise contemporary productions from various countries. In particular, the National Hungarian Theater will show “The Toth Family,” a production by our compatriot Attila Vidnyanszky, based on the play by Istvan Oerkeny, a classic of Hungarian literature. The plot shows the way a respectable family becomes a horrible model of totalitarianism.

The Tbilisi-based State Sandro Ahmetelli Theater will show “Lullaby War” produced by Irakli Gogia.

Another European stage hit, “Antiwords,” is a product of Spitfire Company, based on a work by Vaclav Havel. Showing a booze-up of a brewer and a politician, this tragic farce reveals unexpected subtexts and figures, and director Petr Bohac turns Havel’s world into a dashing humoristic extravaganza with masks and provocations. The story of Havel, who used to be the president of the Czech Republic, contains bitter ironic reflections on the Soviet ghetto era.

What is going to be the festival’s special event is “Richard III” produced by the National Ivan Franko Theater, starring Bohdan Beniuk, and directed by Avtandil Varsimashvili, Georgia. “Carpathian Space” will be concluded with a mega event – the performance of the Swiss band Kadebostany.

In the words of the forum initiator Bohdan STRUTYNSKYI, chairman of the National League of Theater Persons of Ukraine, “the chief goal of the art event is to promote the development of the Carpathian region, as well as actively form the cultural space, establishing cultural and diplomatic links with European countries.”