"THE UKRAINIAN THEATRE IS ME": MARKO KROPYVNYTSKYI IN THE CONTEXT OF NATIONAL CULTURE

Abstract

The article is concerned with overview of the work of actor, director, dramaturge and founder of corypheus theatre. It should be emphasized that

M. Kropyvnytskyi fulfilled not only the duties of director, but also a teacher of a number of young actors, including the following future stars as Mariia Zankovetska, Mykola Sadovskyi, Panas Saksahanskyi, Hanna Zatyrkevych-Karpynska and others.

M. Kropyvnytskyi was an actor of a wide range, and therefore he could skillfully perform any part – both comical and tragical. Sometimes he played two roles in a performance. For instance, he in turn acted two opposite characters – the arrogant landowner Oleksii Voronov and the sensible peasant, former serf Maksym Khvortuna in the drama based on his play "While the grass grows, the horse starves". As a director, M. Kropyvnytskyi was so unsurpassed in the way of keeping the audience's attention in a constant suspense that he could make a real spectacle out of almost any play. His directing talent was especially evident during the tour in the winter of 1886-1887 in Petersburg. At that time, Ukrainian actors overshadowed even the Mariinsky Theatre and Aleksandrynskyi Imperial Theatre in their skill. M. Kropyvnytskyi's main stage principles formed the basis of the Kostiantyn Stanislavskyi and Volodymyr Nemyrovych-Danchenko's creative method,  who  then  became  the  founders  of  the  Moscow  Art  Theatre.

M. Kropyvnytskyi also made a significant contribution to the treasury of national culture as a dramatist. His best plays were included into the golden fund of the national drama. Some of them are "Give the heart freedom and it will lead you into slavery", "While the grass grows, the horse starves", "For revision", "Ivasyk- Telesyk" and others. First of all, the great merit of Marko Kropyvnytskyi for Ukrainian people is that when Ukrainian culture was subjected to all kinds of oppressions and restrictions by the Russian tsarism, he created the brilliant corypheus theatre, and therefore the national professional theatre took place in the east of Ukraine. Then it, in turn, became one of the most important spiritual foundations which later helped Independent Ukraine to emerge.