Становлення та тенденції розвитку професійного театрального мистецтва на Волині в кінці XVІІІ – першій третині ХІХ століття
Formation and Trends of Professional Theatrical Art in Volyn in the Late 18th – First Third of the 19th Centuries

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the processes associated with the formation of professional theatrical art in Volyn. At the end of the eighteenth – the first third of the nineteenth century Volyn was one of those regions where there have been extensive and direct contacts with Western Art. The vast majority of the theater were the artists invited from abroad who contributed significant professional achievements to the development of Ukrainian and Polish art. Special attention is paid to the magnate theater and private enterprise, which took place in Volyn. During this period, the magnate theater became widespread. Following their fashion or personal tastes, Polish magnates built halls in their estates, where theatrical performances were staged by the peasants from time to time. Among the magnates of Volyn there were real connoisseurs of theatrical art: Lubomirski, Ilinski, Khodkevych. They saw the important way of evolution of Polish culture in the development of the theater and its dissemination. Primarily magnate theater was musical. Musical plays, French and Italian comic operas, pastorals were played in its scenes; ballets were not less popular. They were treated as a separate performances, and were included into others theatricals. None of solemns was not enough without theatrical performances and plays, for example, such as family celebrations to mark the arrival of dignitaries during the carnival, performances on the contract fairs etc. The great merit of the magnate theater was the education of amateur actors, that caused the foundation of acting and directing schools in Ukraine. Activities and achievements of the brightest representatives of theatrical art in this region were analized (W. Boguslavsky and A. Zhmiyevsky). The formation of professional theater in Volyn laid the ground for further development of the domestic art. The value of bond theaters in magnate estates and private entreprise was undoubtedly underestimated in the context of the professionalisation of domestic theater. They contributed to the flowering of local professional theaters because they had already been able to enter the repertoire, including the most demanding public, possessed the skills of directing and staging, and performing skills, that were equal for actors-serfs and famous masters of Western or Russian scene showed a significant humanitarian care of their owners and special education of performers. The decline of serf theater in the magnate estates of the Volyn landowners was associated not only with the loss of a stable economic status of their owners, but with the emergence of the new forms of spectacle: urban theaters, private musical theater repertory, which replaced their predecessors then. In the troupe of V. Boguslavsky the famous Polish actors played on the contract fairs in Dubno, such as Casimir Ovsinskyy, Dominique Thomas Truskolyaskyy and Agnieszka Truskolaska Marianne, Carole Boromiush Svyezhavskyy, Jan Nepomucen Kaminsky, Dominique Kachkovsky, Jan Nepomucen Shchurovsky, Salome Deshner. Also collaborated with V. Boguslawska Austrian actor, choreographer Johann Joseph Felix Kurz. A. Zhmiyovskyi is considered to be a pioneer of professional theatrical art in Volyn. He performed with its own troupe in many cities of Ukraine, particularly in Zhytomyr, Tulchin, Dubno, Kyiv. The main centers of Volyn, where the formation of professional theater had been, were the cities Zhitomir and Berdichev. Opening of stationary theaters in Berdichev and Zhitomir played a crucial role towards creating professional theater in the region and in Ukraine. At different times Zhytomyr was visited by different groups. In particular, the first in Ukraine private touring theaters of P. Rekanovskyi, D. Zhurahovskyi, K. Zelinskyi, also Kiev corpse of A. Lenkavskyi and Kharkiv troup of L. Mlotkovskyi and J. Stein involving such prominent actors as M. Shchepkin and K. Solenyk. In the summer of 1829 Italian singers Giovanna Gels, Carolina Tusant, Hallis de la Rockerer gave five concerts. Thanks to these events Zhitomir became one of the few cities where at the beginning of the nineteenth century there was a theater in public special facilities. It consolidate its reputation as the theatrical city. At the end of 18th – the first third of the 19th century Volyn increased a considerable interest to the art and culture of Western European countries. Having gained the considerable popularity, magnate (bond) theater in Volyn of nineteenth century had more an amateur character. Although some members of the theater were high-leveled professionals, their presence in Volhynia was sporadic, especially during the fairs in Dubno. Despite its decline, the magnate theater in the nineteenth century has become an important basis for the establishment of private enterprise, which was a defining part of becoming a professional theater in Volyn. Thanks to the contribution to the development of culture and art of Volyn of foreign artists who worked in the region, popular in Europe art trends were introduced, domestic art was profecionalized. Thus, it made a considerable contribution to the cultural advancement of Volyn region.

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