The theatre play “Taming of the shrew” by William Shakespeare, directed by Viktorija Shevchenko, performed by the Kyiv Academic regional music and drama theatre “P.K. Saksaganski” from Ukraine will take place tonight as part of the drama programme of the 62nd Ohrid Summer Festival. The two-and-a-half-hour long play will take place at the Vestibule of the St Sophia church at 9 p.m.
Part of the cast today, at a press conference revealed that “Taming of the Shrew” is actually a contemporary reading of Shakespeare, which, as they claimed, will touch everyone in the audience.
-I am happy for the role in the play and that I can realize it on stage. The play is unusual, specific. The director has changed everything, she has a specific approach towards make-up, costumes… and had the courage to change part of Shakespaere’s text. We abbreviated him a bit, rewrote some parts and added something ours, but I think the audience will like it. The contemporary reading of Shakespeare isn’t excluding anyone, said the actor Vladislav Krasikov who will play Petruchio tonight.
The whole action revolves around the young Ukrainian girl Margarita Ovcharova, playing the role of Katharine, a young rich girl who is being tried to get tamed.
-Tonight we will show a contemporaty interpretation of Shakespeare, which will be very interesting for the audience. The mere process of realizarion of this play was very interesting, said Ovcharova.
Vitaliy Tomnjuk, managar of the Culture, Nationalities and Religion Department of the city council of the city of Bucha underlines that the tragedy in Ukraine today not only prevents the normal functioning of culture, destroys the cultural heritage, but also, as he says, takes the lives of many civilians among which of many professional artists.
– Everybody is defending their own frontline, war, voluntarily. Everybody has their own weapon. For us, that weapon id cultural and artistic. Ukrainian music groups, singers, theatre collectives around the world hold humanitarian concerts to support the military forces in Ukraine and war victims. In this war it is not about whether there is room for culture, this is a war for our culture, said Tomnjuk.
As the selector of the drama programme of Ohrid Summer Festival, Sanja Arsovska, announced, the “Taming of the Shrew” starts the international drama programme of the Festival.
– The international part of the drama programme starts tonight at the Vestibule of the St Sophia church. It is a pleasure that in such difficult and unbearable conditions in Ukraine we have guests from this country. Thanks to the Embassy of Ukraine in the country which helped us contact and realize this project. I am happy that tonight the Ukrainian actors instead of sounds of alarm for caution, sounds of shootings, will play and feel safe on the stage of the Festival, said the selector Arsovska.
The director of the Festival Natasha Popovikj, at the press conference today, underlined that the 62nd Ohrid Summer Festival is at its mid-point.
-We are half-way towards the full realization of the 62nd Ohrid Summer Festival and I can freely say that the festival evenings in the past 20 days pass with quality programmes and full audience halls. For most of the events people ask for a ticket plus, which proves that Ohrid Summer Festival this year offers quality and attractive content for wide audiences. There are 20 more Festival Evenings where we eill offer quality programme and evenings to be remembered. I can announce that Ohrid Summer Festival, supported by the Ministry of Culture and under the patronage of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, will meet the expectations of the art lovers, sponsors, helpers and friends again, said the director Popovikj.
The play “Taming of the Shrew” will take place at Ohrid Summer Festival with the support of the Ukrainian Embassy on the Republic of North Macedonia, as a content of the traditional Ukrainian Evening at the Festival.The Kyiv Academic Regional Music and Drama Theater named after P.K. Saksagansky, the biggest and oldest theatre in the Kyiv Region was founded in 1934.