Witch Comedy Sells Out Kyiv Theater as Ukrainians Return to Stage and Folklore

A dark musical comedy about witches has become one of the hottest tickets in Ukraine's capital. "The Witch of Konotop" has played to sold-out houses throughout the summer at Kyiv's historic Ivan Franko Theater, as of this report dated Aug. 18, 2024.

The show is adapted from an 1833 satirical work by Ukrainian writer Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko, which mocks Ukrainian literature's habit of dwelling on sorrow and tragedy. Set in the 1600s, it follows Zabryokha, a Cossack military leader who tries, without success, to rid the land of witches he blames for his troubles. The hour-and-a-half production features detailed folk costumes, strong vocals and traditional Ukrainian music.

Along the way come romance, rejection and a witch hunt. The plot also contains a note that resonates now: the main characters are ordered to join a campaign against an overreaching czarist Russia.

Cast members and audiences offer different readings. Actress Kateryna Artemenko, who plays a townswoman wrongly taken for a witch, told NPR the message is "Don't kill women, don't mess with women," while also saying the central theme is people trying to fool their destiny, which "will find them." Nazar Zadniprovskyi, who plays Zabryokha, sees a lesson about dodging responsibility. The two lead characters skip military drills to avoid war, he said, a parallel many viewers draw with men evading conscription today.

Spectators have their own takes. Markian Halabala of Kyiv said the play shows the folly of interfering with God's will, as Zabryokha does when he asks a witch to make a woman love him though she loves another. He compared that to Russian President Vladimir Putin meddling in Ukraine's path as an independent nation. Olha Vasylevshka of Kharkiv saw a story about love: if it is true it needs no help, she said, and if it is not, "not even a witch" can save it.

Zadniprovskyi credits part of the production's popularity to clips that went viral on social media, where Ukrainians from many backgrounds have commented. Halabala said online buzz drew him in and that tickets were hard to get. Theater press liaison Olena Kyrychenko-Povolocka told NPR every summer performance has filled the nearly 800-seat house, and dates are listed on the theater's website through mid-September.

The play also draws on the real town of Konotop, known for its witch lore. Early in Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, a video spread online of a woman shouting at a Russian soldier atop a tank, telling him he was in Konotop, where "every second woman here is a witch." It went viral partly because Ukrainians immediately understood the reference.

The show reflects a broader push to celebrate Ukrainian culture and literature since the invasion. Putin has repeatedly said victory would mean Ukraine losing not only its sovereignty but its identity. Olha Baibak of the National Union of Theater Workers of Ukraine said almost all functioning theaters in the country are again selling out. In an email to NPR she wrote that new audiences have come "for communication, for therapy, to live some kind of experience," and also to escape reality.

Performing offers a similar refuge. Actor Mykhailo Kukuyuk, who plays Zabryokha's cunning assistant Pistryak, said it can be hard to shut out the war outside, but that performing is an honor that reminds him what Ukrainians are fighting for, including theater and "the details, the sparks that make us alive."