Still uncovered

Other peoples’ attitude toward the Gypsies is a paradoxical combination of wariness and an almost mystic interest. The Gypsy philosophy is that of free wandering, withdrawal from all conventionalities and laws. It has shrouded this people in an enigmatic aura. In fact, the Gypsies do not have a history of their own, although many scholars believe that they have penetrated all societies, leaving a noticeable trace. The man in the street often sees them as drifters with a touch of the fugitive. Is this why we do not seem eager to perceive this people as eternal wanderers, to understand what keeps them on the go?

An attempt to do just that was made by the Romans Gypsy Theater with their new production The Gypsy Muse based on Lina Kostenko’s poem and premiered on April 6. The company has been known for its classical Gypsy romances, folk music, and music dramas since 1994, the more so since it has seldom returned from festivals empty-handed. This premiere cannot be assessed in only so many words. The Gypsy Muse is a joint project of Romans and students at the cinema and television school (Ada Rohovtseva’s class) of the Kyiv National University of Culture and the Arts. In the students’ interpretation, the Gypsies’ sincere desire to become part of world consciousness and simultaneous fear to come close to progress does not look very convincing. Even the play’s culminating monologue by Papusha, the only Gypsy poetess disowned by her people for her love of poetry, cannot make the audience aware of her dramatic destiny. The poem’s author, Lina Kostenko, also shows a somewhat critical approach toward the production. She believes the whole thing should be more on the Gypsy side and that her own verse could have been replaced by Papusha’s (a Ukrainian version is available).