Golden Lion on Stilts

Until the last day it was a tossup whether the festival will take place or not, with the organizers complaining about a lack of funds. In spite of this almost insurmountable obstacle, Lviv streets and squares still saw the artists walking on stilts, with the well- off and less prosperous Lviv residents, who can ill afford a theater ticket, mingling in the crowd.

Lviv hosted professional theaters from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ireland, Scotland, and England. Festival Director Yaroslav Fedoryshyn literally dashed from one square to the next, clearing the way for the shows and addressing organizational and other issues. This author managed to buttonhole Mr. Fedoryshyn for a comment on the festival.

“I’m pleased that Lviv natives could see this carnival, a fairy show on stilts, with the sky lit up with fireworks and laser beams. One doesn’t see many admiring children and smiling people these days. We need holidays so badly! I don’t mean feasts but such spiritual shows that unite people.

“I’m glad that Mazepa, produced jointly by the KTW (Krakow Open Theater), Kyiv Experimental Theater, and Lviv-based Voskresinnia [Resurrection] Theater, premiered at the festival. This is an interesting show directed by Jerzy Zon (Poland) who stages this kind of shows throughout the world. The Hetman appeared before the public as a young man, so carefree in his childish amusements and games, and later as a mature politician, when his heart was bleeding for Ukraine and the land was scorched all the way from Krakow to Uman...”

“Still, in spite of the festival’s success, you sound worried...”

“This is because we couldn’t accomplish everything we had planned. For example, we couldn’t stage Job because of the rain. Lviv residents will see it later. This is a rare performance for the stilt theater, as it features dialogs (based on Karol Wojtyla’s work). We decided to have a philosophical conversation with the spectators and discuss if we can respect people for who they really are and not for their familial ties or bank accounts. Can we communicate without selfish motives? Do we know how to give?

“We wanted to show Night Kiss so much, but this would cost UAH 25,000 (12,000 for pyrotechnics alone plus another five thousand to lease the laser equipment). We showed it in Lviv only once. Everything seems so easy to an outsider: say, you just stand on the stilts and communicate with the public. Incidentally, this is also not an easy thing to learn. We would fall and get back on our feet many times over. It takes courage and perseverance to accomplish this.

“After the festival we will travel to Kyiv and then to Poland. After the New Year we will visit Moscow, Tomsk, and Tiumen. However, we like to stage our performances in Lviv, whose architecture, squares, and courtyards provide the perfect stage setting.”

Thus far such festivals have been possible in Lviv only, which draws professionals from across Europe. In Odesa they have street carnivals, and amateur shows in Yalta. This is probably everything Ukraine has to offer in the way of street performances, meaning that we still have a long way to go before we can organize our people’s leisure and attract tourists.