Director comments on success of Ukrainian theater in Avignon

Uryvskyi said in an exclusive comment to an Ukrinform correspondent in France that the festival had become a good platform to convey information about events in Ukraine.

"Our shows coincided with the terrible shelling of Okhmatdyt, and we talked about it a lot, both in the interviews and after the bow. It is very important at such large-scale festivals to talk not only about Ukrainian theater, but about Ukraine in general, and about the war," Uryvskyi said.

He added that "bowing six times with the flag of Ukraine in Avignon is an important thing."

At Uryvskyi's performance in Ukraine, tickets are sold out three months before the show. However, according to him, authority still needs to be gained abroad.

"You have to understand that few people know about our theater there in France. Besides, over 1,600 plays are shown there during the festival, so attracting attention to our six [plays] was not easy. However, we ended up with a full house at the sixth performance, although the hall was half full during the first one," Uryvskyi said, commenting on the success of the performance "Caligula" based on the play by Albert Camus.

Uryvskyi also said that this year the directorate of the festival in Avignon was holding it without any participation of Russians and without Russian theaters at all.

"Caligula" is the first play produced by the Franko Theater during the full-scale war, which Uryvskyi began working on before February 24, 2022. He says that he did not intend to speculate on the topic of dictatorship, but it just so happened that this story is now more timely than ever.

"The issues raised by the play are very relevant now not only for us, but for the French, for Americans and for the whole world. It is a system of images, and the text itself, it can be about today, and about tomorrow, and about a thousand years ago. And it's very cool when the emotions of viewers in Ukraine, France, or Romania match. This is a very important moment," he said.

Five days before the festival in Avignon, the Franko Theater performed "Caligula" at another prestigious festival, in Sibiu, Romania. Therefore, the director hopes that after these trips there will be more opportunities to show Ukrainian theater in Europe.

The play "Caligula" received the highest ratings from French critics and had a sold-out performance as part of the program of the Ukrainian "Pavilion of the Future" at the most prestigious theater festival in Avignon, France.

Photos: Yulia Veber