Indian-Ukrainian variations

For the first time viewers are seeing the heroes of the Indian epic on the Ukrainian stage. Stage director Andriy Prykhodko has based his production on the Mahabharata and the plays of Kalidasa. With this play the Ivan Franko Theater continues to expand its repertoire, acquainting our audiences with the treasures of world culture. Mahabharata is one of the sacred books of the Hindus, similar to the Christians’ Holy Bible and the Muslim Koran. In India the Mahabharata is referred to as the book of books (18 volumes in all). Shakuntala, by far the best of Kalidasa’s plays, tells about the origin of the dynasty of the Bharata (as the Hindus call their country).

The Ivan Franko Theater production may be described as a tribute to such great men of the theater as Les Kurbas and Aleksandr Tairov. Kurbas first read the Mahabharata in German when he lived in Vienna. He was captivated by the epic and began to study Sanskrit in order to be able to read Kalidasa’s play in the original. In 1918, when the stage director created the Youth Theater, among the plays he planned to stage were not only works by Ukrainian and Western classics but also Kalidasa’s Oriental epic Shakuntala. Tairov’s Moscow Chamber Theater began its work in December 1914 by staging Shakuntala. The stage director said, “This play is our protest against the vulgarity and philistinism currently dominating the theater.” Perhaps not coincidentally, in times of chaos various stage directors turn to the epic that contains harmony and beauty and glorifies the lofty human sentiments of sincerity and love. The story recounts King Dushyanta’s love for Shakuntala and the birth of their son Bharata.

The Ivan Franko Theater prepared for the performance for almost two years. This play requires not just acting but also the ability to speak in the language of symbols and signs, and an understanding of the mantra and Veda. The Indian dances were taught by Viktoria Shetlez-Vyrych whose six-year-old son Mykhailo made his debut as the young Bharata. Maria Pohrebniak is the designer of the exotic stage props and costumes. The leading roles are played by Larysa Rusnak, Yaroslav Hurevych, Anatoliy Pomyluiko, Pavlo Piskun, Dmytro Chernov, Mykhailo Vyrych, Ksenia Basha, Tetiana Shliakhova, Olena Medvedeva, and others. The play is accompanied by authentic Indian music — with Oleksiy Kabanov (sitar), Andriy Moroz (percussion), and Serhiy Puchkov (tablas) — as well as Ukrainian melodies.