The Donetsk National Academic Ukrainian Musical and Drama Theatre is a theatre in Donetsk, Ukraine. It was founded in 1927 and was awarded national status in November 2009. It has hosted the regional theater festival "Theatrical Donbas" since 1992 and the "Golden Key" open festival performances and concerts for children and youth since 1997.
The Donetsk National Academic Ukrainian Musical and Drama Theatre began in 1927 in Kharkov, then the capital of Ukraine, with the creation of the Ukrainian Labour Theatre. Its purpose was to carry out cultural and educational missions in Eastern Ukraine. The troupe was formed from the actors of the Kharkov State Folk Theatre and the Berezil Theatre. The first director was А. Zagarov, who had studied with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. A year later, V. Vasilko, a student of Les Kurbas who later became an Honoured People's Artist of Ukraine, was appointed the art director.
In 1933, at the invitation of the People's Commissariat of Education of Ukraine, the creative team was transferred to Donetsk (then Stalino), where the first season opened on November 7, 1933, with the premiere of I. Mikitenko's play The Bastille of the Virgin (Ukrainian: Бастилія божої матері).
During its first 10 years the theatre visited the main cities of the Donets Basin (Voroshilovgrad, Mariupol, Gorlovka, Donetsk, Makiivka and Slavyansk) and also travelled outside the region, to Baku, Minsk, Vitebsk, Gomel, Mogilev, Leningrad, Rostov-on-Don and Kiev.