Making Prophecies From Stage: An Overview of the Theatrical Adaptations of Lesya Ukrainka’s Dramatic Poem Cassandra

Abstract

A myth about lack of stageability has long been surrounding Lesya Ukrainka’s dramatic texts, including Cassandra. This sentiment has been echoed frequently and in different contexts – from the first literary critics to contemporary stage directors and theatre critics. Nonetheless, at the turn of the first and second decades of the 21st century, almost 100 years after it was written, Cassandra appears to be one of the most productive texts for understanding Ukrainian history and modernity.

The article aims to provide an overview of the theatrical adaptations of Lesya Ukrainka’s dramatic poem Cassandra made in Ukraine and abroad between the first staging in 1967 in Canada and the premieres of the 2023/2024 season.

The study’s interdisciplinary methodology encompasses literary studies, art criticism and culture studies. To conduct an overview of the theatrical adaptations of Lesya Ukrainka’s drama, bibliographical search and material systematisation methods have been used; a source study approach has been used to find and process archival documents and periodicals; a historical and typological approach has been used to highlight the history of productions; a comparative method has been used to compare the stage version and the text of the dramatic poem; intermedial studies have been applied to the analysis of the interaction between the arts.

Following the research, an overview of the theatrical productions of Lesya Ukrainka’s dramatic poem Cassandra in Ukraine, Canada, Poland, and the United Kingdom has been conducted. The overview includes stage performances that use text from Lesya Ukrainka’s Cassandra, most of which are contemporary productions. The study is the first to collect and systematise information about nearly two dozen productions of Lesya Ukrainka’s dramatic poem Cassandra. ​​Comparative analysis has been used to provide an overview of the stage adaptations of the literary work and the directorial decisions and to analyse reviews of premieres, interviews, and theatre announcements. The materials of the first theatrical adaptation of the dramatic poem in the Ukrainian Zahrava Theatre in 1967 have been outlined for the first time and the widespread media opinion about the first stage adaptation of Cassandra on the Kyiv stage in 1970 has been refuted.

The conclusions summarise the history of theatrical adaptations of Lesya Ukrainka’s dramatic poem Cassandra, which was not staged during the author’s lifetime and was even considered a drama with no potential for staging. Two dozen productions prove that the dramatic poem belongs to some of the most productive texts and conceals hidden meanings of world history repeating itself. Lesya Ukrainka’s 150th birthday in 2021 and the current russian-Ukrainian war have actualised this drama and brought it back into public discourse through numerous theatrical productions that offer its multiple readings and interpretations.