This September Kiev’s National Academic Theatre of Russian Drama Lesya Ukrainka presents a festival of Ukrainian culture.
Comprising four plays, two film screenings and a photography exhibition, showcasing Ukraine’s cultural masterpieces as well as its developing modern arts scene. The cycle of four plays, Ward of the Manor, My Mocking Happiness, Life’s Little Nothings and Don Juan, will be performed in Russian and live dubbed in to English. Tickets from £10.
Theatre
8 – 10 September
Ward of the Manor
A new translation of Ivan Turgenev’s comedic drama Fortune’s Fool
Olga Korina left her family’s country estate as a young girl, returning seven years later with her new husband State Official Pavel Yeletsky. During a celebration for the newlyweds, dark secrets are revealed and lives are changed forever. True nobility does not reside in mere titles.
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11 – 12 September
My Mocking Happiness
Written by Leonid Malyugin. Based on the letters of Anton ChekhovDrawn from Anton Chekhov’s personal correspondence with his wife, Olga Knipper-Chekhova, and close friend, Lika Mizinova. Alive with intimate and personal detail, the letters reveal the writer’s complex inner life and discusses his timeless dramas Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard.Find out more
13 – 15 September
Life’s Little Nothings
Based on the short stories of Anton Chekhov
The human condition is examined in this original handling of Chekhov’s short stories A Daughter of Albion, A Tripping Tongue, Difficult People, A Happy Man and The Wallet. Each of the five episodes is separated by brief interludes of classic Russian romance tunes.
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17 – 19 September
Don Juan
Written by Tirso de Molina. Adapted by Lesya UkrainkaPoet Lesya Ukrainka offers an original, authentically Ukrainian take on this timeless story of conflict between freedom and authority. In a departure from the original, this adaptation introduces Ukrainka’s semi-autobiographical depiction of a young woman selflessly devoted to the Don.Find out more
Film
As part of the Ukrainian festival of culture there will be two free film screenings. To celebrate 50 years since its release, Sergei Paradzhanov’s The Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors will be screened on Saturday 12 September and will be introduced by one of the films’ stars, Larisa Kadochnikova, who will also play the role of Olga Knipper-Checkhov in My Mocking Happiness. Silent movie Earth will be shown on Tuesday 15 September and entrance to both of these films will be free of charge, although reservation is required.
12 September, 2pm
The Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
In Ukrainian with English subtitles
The Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a 1965 film by the legendary filmmaker Sergei Parajanov, based on the classic book by Ukrainian writer Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky. The storyline revolves around two separated lovers caught in a family feud and also features a detailed portrayal of Ukrainian Hutsul culture, showing Carpathian environment, family rituals, the beauty of Hutsul traditions, music, costumes, and dialect.
15 September, 2pm
Earth
Silent film
Earth is a 1930 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko, concerning the process of collectivisation and the hostility of Kulak landowners. In 1958 the film was named as one of the best twelve films of all time at the World Exhibition in Brussels. Charlie Chaplin called Dovzhenko “the one and only artist, thinker and poet, given as a present by Slavs to the world”.
Photography
A free photography exhibition, Ukrainian Culture Today, will be on display in the bar and front of house area of the theatre, showing beautiful images of the sites, architecture and people of Kiev and the Ukraine.
