Romeo and Juliet. Drama per musica dir. by The Ivan Franko. National Academic Drama Theater in Ivano-Frankivsk (review)

Abstract

Romeo and Juliet. Drama per musica, performed at the Ukrainian Shakespeare Festival in Ivano-Frankivsk on 21 June 2024, is the second part of a dramatic diptych by Rostyslav Derzhypilskyi based on tragedies by Shakespeare. The first part, Hamlet. Neo-opera-horror, was shown at the festival three days earlier, and together these two performances formed a holistic impression of the post-apocalyptic world, through the gloomy labyrinths of which, according to the director’s concept, the viewer should walk together with Shakespeare’s characters in search of answers to the questions that are so urgent for our time: is there any place in this life for living humans and true feelings?