Famous Polish Director to Stage Production at Kyiv Theatre
Renowned Polish theatre director Grzegorz Jazyna is creating a script for a new production at the Lesya Ukrainka National Drama Theatre in Kyiv, according to the theatre's general producer Oksana Nemchuk.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Ukrinform.
The premiere is scheduled for March 2026.
‘Grzegorz Jarzyna is inspired by Lesya Ukrainka's classic drama Cassandra, Jean-Paul Sartre's film adaptation of Les Troyes, Euripides‘ dramas Cassandra, Helen, The Trojans, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and Aeschylus’ trilogy Oresteia for the Kyiv production,’ the source said.
During a public interview on 2 May in Kyiv, Jarzyna said that he most respects the art of Ancient Greece: ‘For me, it's like touching a certain mystery and phenomenon of humanity from ancient times.’ According to the director, the understanding of fate and destiny and the attempt to reconcile it with what is destined for us is relevant today.
‘I cannot comprehend the wars that have been going on throughout our history. Probably, no one can comprehend their meaning. Perhaps the first European history is recorded in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Perhaps our cultural gene lies in this story,’ said Jarzyna, who has been fascinated by the work of the ancient Greek poet for the past 15 years.
According to the Polish director, he has studied Homer in various ways. He has held many acting workshops and preparatory work for an imaginary production in different cities: Los Angeles, London, Tel Aviv, Ankara. But all that time, the plan had not matured enough to allow him to realise his ideas.
When Jarzyna was invited to the Lesya Ukrainka Theatre in Kyiv last year, her acquaintance with the Ukrainian writer's Cassandra gave her a new impetus to create the production.
‘Lesya Ukrainka's drama inspired me to a great extent and reawakened the urge to search for something I had been doing for many, many years. I thought: this is a signal, a sign of fate that should not be ignored,’ said the Polish theatre director.
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