Romeo and Juliet: From a Performance for Teenagers to an Innovative Dramatic Performance in the Time of War

Abstract

The article offers an overview of the reception history of Romeo and Juliet in Ukraine. In the Ukrainian lands that were part of the Russian Empire, Romeo and Juliet began to be staged at Russian-language theatres at the end of the 19th century. In the Ukrainian SSR, the tragedy was performed in Ukrainian translations from the late 1930s. Leading theatres in independent Ukraine also adapted Romeo and Juliet. For instance, the Frankivsk Drama Theatre (2021, directed by Rostyslav Derzhypilskyi) staged Romeo & Juliet using Yurii Andrukhovych’s translation. Since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, this performance has been experimental in its spatial design and approach to the characters, reflecting the pain of the time.