Origins and Prerequisites of Ukrainian Theatre Institutionalisation (end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to outline the important ideological interaction of the institutionalisation factors of the Ukrainian theatre development during the end of 19th – beginning of 20th centuries. The research methodology consists in the use of the following methods: analysis of terminology and the relationship of concepts, comparative-analytical, periodisation and classification, visual-analytical, and abstraction. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the application of the institutional approach to the evolution of the Ukrainian theater in a certain historical period, that is, at the turn of the epochs (the border between two centuries). Conclusions. The institutionalisation of the Ukrainian theater took place under the conditions when, at the end of the 19th century, the government of the Russian Empire, allowing the performance of Ukrainian plays under the control of local authorities, prohibited the very idea of a monolingual and separate Ukrainian theater. One of the most famous troupes of the Ukrainian theater was the troupe of M. Starytskyi, which was formed from actors of the younger generation. The most important achievement of this troupe was M. Starytskyi's affirmation of directing as the main factor in the creation of a performance; the magnum opus of Ukrainian drama in the 1880s and 1890s is considered to be I. Karpenko-Kary's drama, devoid of folklore and ethnographic illustrativeness but marked by features of deep psychologism. At the same time, P. Saksagansky was a congenial director who applied new principles of stage interpretation of the playwright's plays, new means of mise-en-scène, detailed elaboration of each role. During the period of restriction of Ukrainian printing and art, prohibition of Ukrainian education and science, it was the theater that undertook the mission of propagating the native language, song, and dance among wide circles of the public, although it did not have direct access to the Ukrainian countryside.

Key words: theatre, performing arts, history, institutionalisation, institutions, XIX and XX centuries.