Next Season is Under Threat of Not Opening

It is unlikely that the Acceptance Commission will sin against its conscience and sign the report recognizing the theater's adequate technical condition before next season. According to Theater General Manager and Art Director Anatoly Mokrenko, the situation is critical: "Twelve years have passed after the [last] reconstruction. The consequences could be very serious unless adequate measures are taken. The foundation has sunk, the roof is leaking, there are cracks in the walls, and the plaster is flaking."

Summing up the theater's performance in the past season, one should begin with "in spite of..": in spite of everything, it has managed to stage six new plays: Don Giovanni, Lady Macbeth, Troubadour, Coppelia, The Lady and the Hooligan, and Do You Hear Me? It should be noted that the government did not donate anything to stage these works. The theater had to rely on its own resources. They used their old props and costumes, the means were earned on tour, and, of course, through personal contacts. (For example, Aleks Ursuliak, in memory of his training at the Kyiv Choreography School, staged the Do You Hear Me?

The theater's creative plans include the staging of The Vikings ballet. German stage director Gensel proposed to stage the Romeo and Juliet opera, and is himself looking for donors interested in such a venture. The portfolio of the National Opera Theater administration contains Oleksa Kostin's Sultan and Roksolana vocal score, and there is a hope that a new version of Carmen will be done. However, there is also discontent among the performers, largely caused by a considerable delays in their pay, meager as it is. Thus, inasmuch the chance to see new plays is low, the probability for many well-known personalities to disappear next season is high. This is how our stars become other's: Kocherha, Lukyanets, Kostiukov, Dvorovenko, Bilotserkivsky. This list can be extended. Who's next?