“We Could Have Ventured in the Opposite Direction”: Exploring the Legacy of Polish Theatre on the Festival Map of Independent Ukraine
Maiia Harbuziuk
mayya.harbuzyuk@lnu.edu.uaIvan Franko National University of Lviv (Ukraine)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6215-9477
Abstract
This article examines the representation of Polish theatre on the Ukrainian festival map. This study includes key stages, events, and trends, and aims to uncover both positive developments and underlying problems. The research is based on sources such as published material, information resources, and my experience as a theatre critic. The periods of individual “breakthroughs” (1992–2000), “local encounters” (2001–2011), and “dramaturgical and performative landing forces” (from 2011) are identified and briefly characterized. The article outlines a broad geographical and genre-specific range of festivals in which Polish theatres participate and highlights their contribution. It also discusses the reception of individual performances by Polish theatres in Ukrainian criticism. The author focuses on the absence of iconic plays of Polish theatre on the posters of Ukrainian festivals (the exception is Bzik tropikalny (The Tropical Craze) by Witkacy, directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna, 1998). This resulted in the fact that the most important achievements of Polish theatre remained unknown to the Ukrainian audiences, and the professional community gravitated more towards Russia than towards the West. Given the more than four-hundred-year history of Polish–Ukrainian relations, it is essential that steps be taken to restore Polish–Ukrainian theatrical communication in order to ensure that Ukrainian theatre is connected to the European cultural space.
Keywords:
Polish–Ukrainian theatre relations, Ukrainian theatre festivals, cultural mobilityReferences
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Authors
Maiia Harbuziukmayya.harbuzyuk@lnu.edu.ua
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6215-9477
Maiia Harbuziuk - theatre historian, theatre critic. A graduate of the Department of Theatre Studies, I. Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Film and Television (1991). In 1991–2001, employee of the literary department at the Mariya Zankovetska Lviv National Drama Theatre. Since 1999 until her death in 2023, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor (since 2011), Professor (since 2020) of the Department of Theatre Studies and Actors Art at the Faculty of Culture and Arts of Ivan Franko Lviv National University. Doctor of Arts (2020). Editor-in-Chief of the theatre journal Prostsenium of Ivan Franko Lviv National University. Chairwoman of the Theatre Studies Commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. Author and co-author of a number of monographs and more than 240 articles on the history and theory of theatre, in particular, on the history of Polish-Ukrainian relations of the 17–19 centuries. Acting dean of the Faculty of Culture and Arts Ivan Franko Lviv National University (since 2021).
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