Culture is important always and everywhere, especially near the front line. After a six-month break, the Mykolaiv Academic Art Theatre started working. The 100th anniversary season was opened with a presentation of the stage equipped in the bomb shelter on September 13, 2022.
Source: The Mykolaiv Academic Art Theatre
According to the director of the theatre Artem Svystun, all the requirements of a bomb shelter have been met on the premises. The small hall with 35 seats has an air conditioning system, and performances are shown on a micro stage measuring 2 by 4 meters, but the theatrical atmosphere is preserved – the curtain, sound and light – everything to meet the needs of the audience, who now need support and emotional consolation.
As noted on the theatre’s website, the stage in the shelter is a unique phenomenon in the world. It is worth noting that the shelter was equipped in the framework of cooperation with the international organization House of Europe with the support of the My art organization.
People are watching the performance in the bomb shelter
Of course, it is not easy to play performances during air raids and bombings. However, citizens and internally displaced persons from the outskirts of Mykolaiv, who need psychological support, remained in the city. It was for them that the theatre created a location that would be, first of all, safe, and would also allow to schedule premieres and continue working, despite the war.
It is worth adding that the creative team of the theatre, on the initiative of the director – artistic director of the theatre, Honored Artist of Ukraine Artem Svystun, has established historical justice: from now on, the seasons start from the distant 1881 when the first play was presented in Mykolaiv on the professional stage of the Monte Theatre, and in 1922, when the Shakhtarka [miner – ed.] of Donbas group was created, which became the basis of the troupe. So, despite constant Russian shelling and martial law in the country, the opening of the 141/100 theatre season took place in Mykolaiv.
