The author is focusing on the term “Smart Harlequin” introduced by outstanding Ukrainian theatre director Les Kurbas. By this term Kurbas defined a new type of intellectual, a super-expressive, easy-going, and psychologically flexible actor capable to cope with tasks facing the art of avant-garde. According to Kurbas, only an educated actor-intellectual could be a full-fledged participant to the theatre art and social processes. An active creator ofspectacles, Smart Harlequin would transform on stage to become a primary carrier of the intellectual principle, as opposed to underlying the emotionality of the scenic environment. Besides, in the avant-garde Smart Harlequin would often assume the function of drama playwright, author of the text.Forms of the modern theatre—such as new drama, verbatim and devised theatre—normally combine in one person both an author and a performer, whom any actor-intellectual actually is and whose method ofscenic existence was foreseen by Les Kurbas. In front ofspectators, Smart Harlequin ofthe 21st century emerges as a researcher inviting the audience to think over problems the theatre selects for social actualisation through play situations. As a rule, that actor-researcher tries to solve the problem in several ways in an improvisational style, while clearly demonstrating his or her attitude to it. Aside from purely artistic tasks, the avant-garde would assign Smart Harlequin with a good many non-artistic ones, such as being an active creator of the new social environment and catalyst ofsocial processes.