“Audience emotions don’t lie”

Premiere of the Maria Zankovetska Lviv Theater Hamlet in Spicy Sauce is a comedy of the famous Italian playwright Aldo Nicolaj staged by Vadym Sikorsky. The creative works of Sikorsky include more than 30 theater plays. He has interesting chamber works, including Professional and Mysterious Variations, where the main role was brilliantly acted by Bohdan Kozak. Today the director is one of those artists who create the “image” of the Ukrainian theater and has his own style.

“Vadym was a great actor,” said Sikorsky’s colleague director Alla Babenko. “He made his debut three decades ago in my play Crystal Shoe by Tamara Gabbe, where he brilliantly played the Fool. Vadym is a worthy student of Serhii Danchenko (we all have cherished memory of this artist) who taught Sikorsky to create such conditions for work where an actor would reveal his talent on the stage. People in Maria Zankovetska Theater love Sikorsky a lot. Many actors dream to get into the performances he stages. As a director he trained Oleksandra Liuta and Yurii Khvostenko, he staged interesting pieces with the maestro of our theater Bohdan Kozak. Sikorsky knows well what is being staged now around the world and he is growing as an artist in each of his performances.”

“Good measure of taste, truth and faith, the proposed stage conditions were characteristic of Sikorsky-actor and he transferred it onto the work with actors already as a director,” Kozak said. “Vadym has a peculiar manner of work. He doesn’t sit by the table for a long time, he doesn’t tire the actors out with reading the text, but tries to begin the work on the stage as soon as possible. He gives out a task and expects improvising from actors, however, he has a very good sense of limits. He has a good sense of what is going on with today’s theater. His theater is not overloaded with heavy metaphors, complicated moves – he is able to feel and convey the author’s concept in an easy pastel way, to find interesting directorial emphasis in performance, to build expressive, interesting and good characters through distribution of roles.”

Mr. Sikorsky why did you, a successful actor, transferred into a director?

“Then, in 1984 it seemed that all that concerned me in the profession had already happened: success, flowers, I was loved not only by people in the audience hall, but also by those in the lobby. Perhaps, I thought I could manage the process instead of just being a part of it. It seemed that I could choose the higher quality material and build the process better. I am not a fatalist, but I believe that there is something else beside you. After all Danchenko’s proposal played a crucial role in that I began working as a director. Danchenko treated me like a son and he made sure I stayed in Kyiv, successfully studied directing, worked in Ivan Franko Theater, and went on theater tours.”

What was your first play as a director?

“While still in my third year at the Theater Institute I staged the play Zhanna by Aleksandr Galin in Rivne. My preliminary diploma was Arena by Isaac Fridberg. Then I staged rock opera Carmen and Night on the Meadow by Oleksandr Oles.”

Today you have a track record of over 30 performances. Which one is your favorite?

“Mysterious Variations, Art, Amadeus, Rice Grain, Khanum (we staged it for over 100 times because audience love this play), One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and others.”

They say that the profession of a director is one of the three most risky ones in terms of heart problems.

“I would say using the example of the One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Elton Kesey – Dale Wasserman. One wears out his heart working with this material. After we staged this play I had a bad feeling like something could happen to me too. And in general I was not sure whether I would further stage anything else. This was, of course, the effect of concentration on heavy material. Probably under that pressure my mind started working funny. Such things happen. However, it is a great joy when the audience is applauding you and when you feel the emotion of the audience that never lies. Those seconds are the satisfaction for everything. It is a great pleasure because people understood you and I know no greater high.”

Does your acting experience help you in the profession of a director?

“Of course, because I know all movements within the soul, the mood – I know how to work with an actor. A performance comes out the way it is as a result of team work. I am human and I can be wrong that is why I accept criticism. However in general I am firm in my actions. I have very friendly relations with actors, but everyone knows who the captain is on the ship.”

Mr. Sikorsky you are 53 now 30 of which you spend working in theater and people still call you a “young director.” Do you take any offence at that?

“Envy is no good decoration. People should do sports.”

What is close to your heart beside theater?

“Friends – not those engaged in theater matters. I love Lviv, walking along its streets and noting to myself that I spotted something I’ve never seen before. I like to stop by painters’ workshops. I also like to watch soccer games (does not matter whether on TV or at the stadium, because adrenalin tears apart)… But in general I am always attracted to the theater both during working hours and beyond. There are people who have to finally break away from work and go on a vacation. Things are different with me – I am afraid of vacations. I receive the greatest pleasure from working even when it exhausts me. After all, why should one work at all if exhaustion annoys, and if s/he dreams that the rehearsal would soon finish.”

What should the audience expect in the near future?

“We have prepared the play Boom-Pim-Pim Only in Lviv – it is a joke and an experiment in a kind of Lviv style that lifts people’s spirits. We tried to get a glimpse of Lviv of the early 20th century with its traditions, melodies, vests, ties, batiars, and trams. We wanted to play the authenticity of the city. The action takes place in the family which is having company to celebrate their daughter’s coming of age. The actors will both speak and sing in sound combinations. The work, despite the first impression of simplicity, is technically quite complicated, and nothing like this has ever been done in Ukraine before. The first premier performance is planned to be held outside the theater – maybe in the hall of the Powder Tower.”