BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE THEATRICAL SCENE OF DROHOBYCH: EPISODES FROM THE HISTORY OF UKRAINIAN, POLISH AND JEWISH TOURS IN THE ERA OF IVAN FRANKO (1866–1914)

Abstract

Based on newspaper materials, the article attempts to systematize and analyze information leaflets on the development of theater tours in Drohobych during the life and work of Ivan Franko and his colleagues, who popularized and developed the theater life in Drohobych in 1866–1914. It identifies the key stages of the Ukrainian, Polish and Jewish theater tours, their periodicity, program contents, directing and acting skills and defines the repertoire of national theaters and their decisive role in the development of the intellectual space of Drohobych during the mentioned period. A special attention is paid to the criticism of certain speeches among the multinational audience of the city. The study reveals that the origin of theatrical life in Drohobych is associated primarily with the XIX century, primarily with the famous tours of the Ukrainian, Polish and Jewish theaters, which brought not only the intellectual space of morality of the stage and the mental culture of Lviv or Vienna, but also prompted the city public to think about creating their own theater building that could be looking to work at the theater level. As for the spectator space and fans of theatrical performances, Drohobych clearly was not any worse than Lviv since in its urban space there were intellectuals not only among academic institutions but also from the financial concerns of the oil business who were real connoisseurs of theater. Finally, with the beginning of the war, theatrical performances in Drohobych ceased to be performed on the sustainable basis. On the other hand, military tours, for their part, received a completely different purpose.