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Olha Mesheryakova, an entrepreneur, is hopeful for the future, despite the uncertainty of her life in war-torn Ukraine. Her plans to attend a dozen performances at the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater in Kyiv have given her a sense of hope. She isn’t alone in her passion for theater, with thousands of other Ukrainians scrambling to get tickets to popular performances months in advance.
The theater has been packed almost every day since it reopened six months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The theater’s director, Yevhen Nyshchuk, volunteered in the military in 2022, as did many of his colleagues. After serving, they returned to the stage, and their experiences changed the way they approached their work.
“Remarque sounded completely different. The reality of the war, which has already affected everyone, has changed us,” Nyshchuk said. “I felt the audience had changed its perception of the theater, had more appetite for it, for this exchange of energy,” he added.
The Ivan Franko Drama Theater has staged over 1,500 performances, attended by more than half a million spectators. Seventeen plays have been premiered, including “The Witch of Konotop,” which explores themes of love and power. Tickets were sold out in minutes for the entire run, and many Ukrainians have joined a waitlist for any that become available.
The theater is not the only source of cultural entertainment in Kyiv. The city’s bookstores, too, have seen an unprecedented surge in popularity, with the number of bookstores increasing from 200 pre-war to almost 500 now. The largest bookstore, Sens, has over 57,000 books and is crowded at any time of day. Its founder, Oleksiy Erinchak, believes the growth is due to people seeking escape from the war and a sense of normalcy.
The Ukrainian Book Institute has reported a significant increase in readers, with 16% of adults reading every day, up from 8% before the war.
In contrast, the landscape is vastly different in frontline areas, where Russia continues to seize territory. Yegor Firsov, a chief sergeant who has been fighting against the Russians since 2022, supports an active cultural life, recognizing the importance of distraction and mental healing for those fighting on the front lines. He himself attends concerts whenever he can, believing culture is essential to life, both during and outside of war.
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