The performances will take place in different cities and will hold actions in support of Kherson residents.
On June 11, the international theater festival “Melpomene of Tavria” officially starts. This year is the most dramatic forum in its history since 1999, as the festival's hometown and permanent location, Kherson, is occupied by Russian invaders.
However, as noted by theater critic Oleg Vergelis, the organizing committee of “Melpomene” decided not to sit idly by, and proposed a “polylocation” festival this year. Pre-determined festival projects will be shown in their hometowns, many different locations and even countries. The festival screenings will be accompanied by actions in support of Kherson and their city “Kherson is Ukraine!”.
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That is, this Melpomene of Tavria is transformed from a purely theatrical to an ideological and political action.
“Now we are finishing the preparation of the festival, thanks to our Lviv colleagues, especially the Lviv National Opera and the people of Zankiv. Of course, we are overcoming certain difficulties, because it is very difficult to do something global today without funds, but this is sometimes possible. In occupied Kherson, it is especially difficult for our people, because there are delays with a salary of 1.5 months. Recently, we seem to have managed to break through certain obstacles in this issue, so I hope people will receive their salaries later, but there is no connection: they are blocked almost completely! ” Mykola Kulish Theater).
On the official opening day of Melpomene of Tavria, June 11, one of the first projects within the festival will start at 3 pm at the Solomiya Krushelnytska Lviv National Opera (Mirror Hall). This is a theatrical performance called “WE”.
Project participants: Anatoliy Palamarenko, Kyrylo Stetsenko, Anatoliy Matviychuk, Olena Kryvda, Hanna Semets. Author of the project: Nadiya Ageeva-Shved. The number of seats in the “Mirror Hall” is limited, so it is likely that the project “WE” will be videotaped and then shown on the TV channel “Culture” or on the YouTube channel of the theater festival.
A number of festival performances will be broadcast on YouTube – Melpomene of Tavria channel and on the official pages of the festival on social networks.
Congratulations of the festival on the occasion of the opening were sent by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Our festival, which took place in Kherson in peacetime, did not obey the Russian occupier, but united in this extremely difficult time Ukrainian theaters with theaters of many countries, which will play in their hometowns, but their scenes will support Ukrainian Kherson and Artists from all over the world demonstrate their solidarity with Ukraine by participating in the festival, proving that the whole civilized world supports us in the struggle for freedom and independence, “the presidential statement reads.
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