Double absurd. The Ukrainians caused trouble at the Theater Olympia in Budapest because of a Russian director. According to the Ukrainian troupe, they previously received an assurance from the organizers that Russian performers would not be invited to the meeting, which, in their opinion, did not materialize. But that's not true.
The company of the Ivan Franko Theater in Kyiv announced :
they do not wish to perform at the 10th Theater Olympiad held in Budapest.
The troupe of the Ukrainian National Theater would have performed two plays within the framework of the event, one of Bertolt Brecht's Stop Arturo Uit! his work, the other would have been Caligula. In January, the troupe wrote a letter to the organizers of the Theater Olympiad, in which they stated that they do not wish to associate with Russian performers and that they consider unacceptable any request that requires them to "dialogue without politics" or "build bridges".
"Our theater sincerely wanted to join this great world theater event, we worked a lot on the preparation of the Budapest presentation of Ukrainian performances, but we do not agree with the "dubious neighborhood" in the program of the Theater Olympiad. The Ivan Franko Theater is aware of the importance of presenting Ukrainian culture abroad and is constantly working to establish international collaborations with colleagues all over the world.
to which representatives of a terrorist country and people justifying Russia's aggression are invited"
– can be read now on their social media page.
Unjust accusations
According to their reasoning, they had previously received an assurance from the organizers that Russian performers would not be invited to the meeting, which, in their opinion, did not materialize. But that's not true.
Attila Vidnyánszky, the general director of the National Theater, who is also from Transcarpathia, said:
"Unfortunately, there are no Russians, only one member of the organizing committee, Valery Fokin, who had a presentation here. He will come to the National, there will also be a film screening at the Uránia Film Theater combined with a discussion. Among other things, based on his sound thinking, thoughts and instructions, we decided to leave this for now, not to let Russian companies come, and not to risk the organization of the Olympics, because it is extremely important that this event takes place now. So now we didn't invite Russian theaters, despite the fact that Russian theater life is still one of the richest or strongest in the world, if not the strongest."In the same interview
Attila Vidnyánszky also praised the Ukrainian theater companies,
who are still standing despite the cultural life slowed down by the war.
"Theatre life has not really stopped, because wherever they can, they rehearse and play, and even create shows. We even did Gogol's The Housekeeper here with our small company from Beregsassa. It is played in front of fantastic full houses, people in coats and hats sit in the cold halls and watch the performance, it is both shocking and heartwarming. The Ukrainian National Theater is coming with two performances and a concert. As the conclusion of the first stage of the Olympics, on June 24, a young Ukrainian directing titan, Ivan Urickij, will stage A Midsummer Night's Dream on Margitsziget. I'm very, very happy about that too.
This also goes beyond the theater event itself, it also has a symbolic and very serious gestural value"
- said the director general earlier, full of hope.
Featured image: 10th Theater Olympics
