Theater in Ukraine

Theater in Ukraine (Ukrainian: Театральне мистецтво України, Teatralne mystetsvo Ukrayiny - Theatric Arts of Ukraine) is one of forms of fine arts that is also used as a way of cultural expression and identification of a level of cultural development in Ukraine. As a form of art is an artistic expression of life with a help of an actor's stage performance in front of spectators.

The Ukrainian theater as a national type of theater based on the native culture of Ukraine customs, traditions, language. The first traces of the Ukrainian theater can be identified in the early 19th century.

The first theatrical acts could be traced back to 11th century when on the territory of Ukraine performed entertainers who are known in history as skomorokhi. There also were acts of religious drama based on the local church traditions. By 16-17th centuries religious dramas were conducted in schools and universities of Kyiv, Lviv, Ostroh. In 17-18th centuries there became very popular festivities of vertep.

The first stationary theater in Ukraine was opened (in Kharkiv 1789) in 1795 in Lviv which at that time was part of the Austrian Empire. The theater was located in the former Jesuit Church complex, the Kosciol of Saint Christ and Franciscan Monastery (1460-1848). The stationary theaters in the rest of Ukraine did not open until later, while theatrical troupes already existed and performed "on the road". However, in the early 19th there started to appear theaters in Kyiv (1806), Odessa (1809), Poltava (1808).

The founder of the classical Ukrainian drama became Ivan Kotlyarevsky who headed the Poltava Theater, while Hryhoriy Kvitka-Osnovyanenko became the founder of artistic prose in the modern Ukrainian literature. Burlesque and expressiveness tied with charm and humor, that characterize works of those two, have set a definition for an academic theater in Ukraine for some time.

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Wikipedia