After February 24, the day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Ivan Franko National Drama Theater – its artists and audience – had to adapt to new realities: to find the strength to resist, and to continue to find motivation and purpose for their work and creativity.

During this short time, the theater reinvented itself, its place and its capabilities under these new conditions of war. The first step was the mobilization and development of a volunteer movement among the theater staff to resist and defeat the aggressor. Some actors and employees of the theater voluntarily joined the army. 

Today these courageous individuals are members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Many of them are serving on the front lines of the conflict. Tragically, the war claimed the life of one of our colleagues, the head of the carpentry and mechanical unit, Viktor Krasin.

Gradually, the Theater began to return to its usual activities. It became clear that society needs theater as a cultural institution, as a part of everyday life, as a place to find meaning in this time of conflict and mutual support among our artists, employees and our audience. The Theater finds strength in our mission to serve as a space for reflection and unity.

The Theater continues its work today, presenting new premieres, inspiring society, transforming social pain into perception, and contributing to the resilience and recovery of Ukrainian society as a whole. In these challenging conditions since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Theater has released 8 premieres and performed over 600 performances, which were attended by over 130,000 spectators.

The war, nonetheless, has limited the number of contacts our actors can have with their European colleagues here in Kyiv. The security situation has significantly reduced the number of trips that performers make from European countries to Kyiv in the cultural sphere in general, as well as limited the opportunities for theater to travel to Europe. War generally narrows borders and contributes to isolation.

It is all the more important now, in these challenging circumstances, for the Theater to increase and foster its programs for international cooperation. Our actors and directors a proactively seeking out opportunities to communicate with colleagues and audiences in Europe – to share their work and unique insights, to acquire new professional knowledge and skills, to become members of European theater networks and to enrich the European theater scene with their performances. The repertoire of the Theater today includes the best Ukrainian and world drama, reinterpreted by our directors.

Any manifestation of solidarity with us – with those who have the strength and determination to create in the face of war – will be extremely important to us.

We are very interested in building sustainable relationships with our European partners, given that Ukraine is now forging a concerted path to Europe. The Ivan Franko National Drama Theater aims to contribute to the common European discourse in the coming years.

We are fully open to cooperation.

If you wish, you can also support the Theater’s projects through charitable contributions, using the donation system below.