Demolished happiness. Actors from Luhansk theater reminisce about what they loved it for

The Severodonetsk theater destroyed

Prior to the full-scale war, the Luhansk Oblast Theater was made up of 1000 employees. Half of them were actors, stage directors, balletmasters, choirmasters, an orchestra comprising 16 musicians, vocalists, and others. The theater staged many plays, from detective stories to modern tragicomedies.

The theater hosted the festival "SvitOhlyad" [the Ukrainian for "worldview" — translator’s note] on three occasions. It drew the attention of the Ukrainian theater community to the cultural life of the relatively small town of Severodonetsk. Every year the theater’s audience was offered the chance to enjoy the performance of artists from the Ukrainian capital, such as Irma Vitovska and Rymma Zyibina. Tickets for the festival were always difficulty to come by. They were sold out in an instant.

Currently, Severodonetsk is occupied by the Russian army. The theater’s team is now scattered across Ukraine. Some have settled down in Drohobych, Lviv, or Dnipro, while others have joined the army to protect their motherland holding weapons in their hands. The building of the theater has completely been destroyed. We also do know that its roof has collapsed. According to its director, Serhii Dorofeev, people were taking shelter from shelling in the basement of the theater. As of now, their fate is unknown.

For most actors the theater was their second home. That is how the interviewees of Svoi, artists and vocalists, refer to the theater while reminiscing about it.

Yuliya Sydorchenko, artist and vocalist: "Aside from acting in the theater, there is nothing else I enjoy doing"

The Severodonetsk theater is part of my adolescent memories. It offered me refuge from a difficult life. Before joining the theater I lived in different cities having jobs that were not related to culture. I remember learning about an open contest organized by the theater. I was in Dnipro then, thinking to myself: "Good grief, what am I doing here?". On the same day, I quit my job and took myself to Severodonetsk. This was the place where I finally felt good and could take a rest.

Our team became my second family. I knew everyone before the theater was reconstructed. I felt quite comfortable there. With no other team had I ever experienced such an atmosphere. I felt their support 24/7. We would celebrate the birthdays of all of our staff members together. Serhii Dorofeev, our director, went to great lengths so that we would feel needed in the theater. He is still doing that.

We were all trying to be better and more congenial. However, I was always aware of the fact that I was not only working with these people, but also living my life with them. At times, things got quite tough in terms of physical and mental resources. I was asking myself whether I needed a break from the theater. Then I would speak to the main director who would always find the right words, I would work with my emotions in my head and then carry on as if nothing had happened. Sometimes I wanted to quit. I would always stop myself from doing that because aside from the theater there is nothing else I enjoy or am capable of doing, I guess.

This was the only theater in the whole government-controlled part of the Luhansk region. It used to host the festival "SvitOhlyad". Theaters from all over the country — Kyiv and Lviv — would come to us. This was how Ukraine would learn that the Ukrainian language and culture do exist in the Luhansk region, that there is a theater that brings these things to people, and that there are people who know history. This is quite important.

Antonina Hladka, artist of the Drama Theater: "We were happy when the theater was renovated"

The theater meant everything to me. I worked there from its early days. Before the renovation, we had been working on the premises of a kindergarten. When the theater was renovated, our team was on cloud nine. Everything was modern there: equipment, stage, the stalls. The plays that we staged there brought joy not only to the audience, but also to us.

The festival "SvitOhlyad" was quite special. We staged the play "Viy" [based on the eponymous story by Mykola Hohol — translator’s note]. I played the landowner’s daughter. I shaped this role in its physical and plastic dimensions.

You know, it’s like carrying a child. When I learnt about the theater having been demolished, I was in pain. I was still harboring hopes that we would come back and resume working in the same building, in the same town. Unfortunately, after all this, I do understand that this is not going to happen anytime soon. The recovery of the theater would take many years.

Iryna Kotova, artist and vocalist: "It seems that there is going to be no better theater than this one"

I joined the theater in mid-September. I knew from my childhood that my life would be tied to creative work and music. My life has now brought me to the Luhansk Oblast Theater in Severodonetsk.

Upon learning about its destruction I could not help crying. I was really afraid to learn such news. I did understand that such a development was in the offing. However, I was hoping that the theater would remain intact. After 6 months it became my home. I came to love it because of its people. When I first came to the theater, I got downright scared. The team helped and supported me, though. I was inexperienced. Everyone would help and give me pieces of advice.

I was never left alone with the script. Nobody would tell me: "There you go, learn and puzzle it out on your own". When I faced the task of learning a dance for a play, ballet girls would work with me from dawn to dusk, although they did not have to do that. We were one team.

My favorite play was "Some like it hot". It’s a beautiful, funny, impulsive, and large-scale play. The play "Stolen Happiness" was my debut. When I was getting ready to take the stage, I felt jittery. It was like I went numb. However, as soon as you start acting you forget your fears and do what you are supposed to do.

I spent every single day at the theater and I liked it. My day began with choreography, vocal drills, and rehearsing. Not only were we working there, but we were also learning. The theater in Severodonetsk was the best place to work. I am not sure I will ever experience anything of the kind. I am truly not. I know that there will be nothing quite like this theater and this team.