LES KURBAS AND THE YOUNG THEATRE: A REVOLUTION IN UKRAINIAN PERFORMING ARTS

Abstract

The study is devoted to the analysis of Les Kurbas’s creative activity and his role in the formation of Ukrainian modern theatre in the early twentieth century. Particular attention is paid to the activities of the Young Theatre, an artistic association that became a laboratory for new stage forms, acting techniques and directorial experiments. The concept of Kurbas’s theatrical reform, aimed at overcoming ethnographic theatre and introducing European modernist trends, is studied. The article analyses the main principles of Kurbas’s work with students, his method of training actors, which included rhythmic speech, intellectual analysis of the text, physical discipline and synthesis of various artistic means. The author examines the key productions of the Young Theatre, in particular the first artistically consistent symbolist performances that contributed to the formation of a new aesthetic of the national stage. Kurbas’s contribution to the development of the director’s theatre, in particular his collaboration with the artist A. Petrytskyi, which launched a new level of stage design, is studied. The significance of Sophorl’s Oedipus Rex, M. Halbe’s Youth, and V. Vynnychenko’s Black Panther and the White Bear, which, although ambiguously perceived by contemporaries, became an important step towards theatrical modernization, is highlighted. The conflicts and challenges faced by Kurbas, including difficulties in the perception of his ideas among actors and critics, as well as internal contradictions in the Young Theatre troupe, are examined. The article analyses the theatre’s transition to its second season, the expansion of its repertoire, and Kurbas’s attempts to engage new artists in collaboration. The article concludes that the activity of Les Kurbas and the Young Theatre was a defining stage in the formation of Ukrainian theatre in the twentieth century. His reformist activities aimed at integrating national art into the European cultural space had a significant impact on the further development of Ukrainian stage culture.