Theater
Hello, today I want to participate in the "Keyword of the Week" contest and write a story based on real events.
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A boy named Oleh lived in a small Ukrainian town. He was 11 years old and studied in the fifth grade of the local gymnasium. It was 1996, a time of great economic recession. Young Ukraine is actively, but with difficulty, ridding itself of the Soviet heritage. One of the features of being part of the USSR was the decline of culture, especially Ukrainian culture. That is why there was no theater in the town of Kalush at that time.
One day Oleh came to class as usual. And so the teacher makes an announcement that the children will have only two lessons, and then all the children go to the local palace of culture. A theater has arrived in the city and will show a children's comedy play based on the work of a Ukrainian classical writer. The children were very happy, not so much because of the opportunity to see the play, but because there would be no lessons.
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It was a very warm sunny day. On such a day, the town, densely dotted with ugly Soviet high-rise buildings, looks very beautiful thanks to an unusually large number of green trees. Many children's laughter could be heard in these green streets today. The children lined up in pairs and went to the concert hall in columns accompanied by teachers. Everyone was in a jovial mood, and everyone was ready to have a good laugh.
With great difficulty, the teachers forced the children to sit down in the concert hall and be at least a little quieter. But the show was delayed. The children became bored, there was a commotion, many simply ran and even ran out onto the stage. Later, it turned out that due to some unforeseen obstacles, the planned performance would not take place. The organizers hastily invited another theater, which arrived almost on time, but brought a deeply dramatic performance, definitely not designed for a children's audience.
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And so, for such a completely unprepared and young audience, the performance began. The actors masterfully and talentedly demonstrated difficult human emotions. But all this was accompanied by loud children's laughter from the audience. In the end, the children got bored, there was a commotion and it was even hard to hear the actors.
After some time, the play reached its climax - the most tragic moment, for which the writer wrote his work, and the actors staged the play. The event was so sad for the main actors that it turned their world upside down. In order to portray it on stage, the actors lay down on it and rolled towards each other. In the context of the performance, it was very apt and strong. But the children, who did not follow the performance at all and did not understand what was happening there, did not appreciate it. Loud laughter erupted in the hall.
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Amid this deafening laughter, the actors continued to give their best. They showed pain and tears, inconsolable longing and despair due to the inevitability of events. In response, the entire hundred-voice hall laughed loudly, literally roaring with joy. Among this big wild human sea, only one boy, Oleh, sat with wide-open eyes, sincerely experiencing all the emotions that the actors painstakingly portrayed. He was amazed. He was impressed by the depth of the dramatic work. He was impressed by the skillful performance of the actors. Impressed by the live art called THEATER.
Despite the shameful organization of the theatrical performance, another theater fan was born that day. And although he got into the real theater much later, when he was a student, this love remained with him for the rest of his life.
Oh, that's a really lovely story! (Although I also had to think about the poor colleague who was in charge of the wild gang...)
I like it when the perspective is changed while writing and the (known) protagonist and the event are described by an omniscient narrator. In this case, "I was the only good kid!" would certainly sound pretty strange... ;-)
Hopefully the grown up Oleh will soon be able to visit the theatre again in times of peace and introduce his daughter to the wonderful world of drama!
We had a chance to introduce the child to the theater even during the war. My wife and daughter went to the neighboring city of Ivano-Frankivsk for a play about Aladdin. This is not a drama, but now the child has an idea about the theater. By the way, she assures that she liked it.
Ah, it's great that the cultural offering still exists in places. Even better if you can enjoy it and it's not "just" a distraction from all your bad troubles.
Perhaps the tiny misunderstanding is due to the German nomenclature: any literature written for the stage is called "drama". The theatre piece doesn't have to be dramatic, just a stage play.
Yes, you are right, in the Ukrainian language there is a slightly different terminology :)
First of all, you diminished the already "slim" chance of me winning the contest 😉
Secondly: 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
A round of loud applause. The resilience of little Oleh, who remains entranced despite organizational flaws, is the highlight of this narration. Well, he was one wise boy. And still is :)
I can really picture you sitting in that theatre, deeply engrossed in the performances, and feeling all the emotions...
It was one of those childhood events that are etched in memory for a lifetime. I still remember how I felt sorry for the actors who were ridiculed so much by the audience.
Не применшуйте свої таланти 😉
This totally appeals to the Shakespeare-Molierè-Lessing-Brecht fan in me! Even if I wouldn't feel comfortable on a stage myself - I love going to the theatre!
Oh, there's no way I'd want to go on stage. I don't like being the center of attention at all.
Wooow. Mis aplausos querido @o1eh.
Conmovedor. Gran texto.
Thank you.