PLAY ‟LADIES AND HUSSARS” ON THE STAGE OF KHARKIV THEATRE OF MUSICAL COMEDY (1968) AS A MANIFESTATION OF THE TENDENCY TO ‟DRAMATIZE” THE REPERTOIRE

Abstract

The article is devoted to the only stage reading of the comedy ‟Ladies and Hussars” (Damy i Huzary) by Aleksander Fredro in the history of the Ukrainian theatre of musical comedy and operetta. Put on at Kharkiv Theatre of Musical Comedy (KhTMK) by directors Yurii Fridman, Les’ Syniavskyi and Valentyn Ivchenko as well as conductor Borys Cheboksarov, the performance reflected the trend of diversity in the repertoire of the Thaw period. From a musical point of view, the production with music by Lev Solin, composed with the expectation of performance in a drama theatre, was not noticeable. However, this work reflected the tendency of the musical comedy theatre to search for a new nature of acting expressiveness in a small-form performance (only solo vocalists, without choir and ballet dancers). The production is characterized by a high ensemble culture. The leaders in the play ‟Ladies and Hussars” were not ‟heroes” and ‟heroines”, but bright character actors of the older generation (Mykola Havrylenko as Captain, Romuald Korytek as Orgonova). Significantly increased in relation to operetta or musical comedy, the dialogue part of the personages simply required from the actors a meaningful dramatic action, built together with the director and partners. Artists Mykhailo Ushats and Olha Imberovych created a vivid visual image of the performance. Assistant director Borys Yanshevsky, a former leading actor of Kharkiv Russian Drama Theatre, and Pavlo Kulisich, theatre accompanist, polyglot and art critic, worked with the actors to polish the special style of playing roles in classical Polish comedy, as well as the characteristic phrasing of vocal parts. The actors involved in the production of ‟Ladies and Hussars” remembered their work as a feast of the game, with unpredictable results thanks to skillful partner improvisation. The layout and sketches of costumes by Taras Shyhymaga, the main artist of KhTMK, prepared for production of ‟Ladies and Hussars” on the stage of T. H. Shevchenko Academic Ukrainian Drama Theatre, Kharkiv (director Mykola Yaremkiv, 2002) also analyzed in the article.