Yevhen Khudzyk, director of the student theater of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), On Simon’s Pillars, talks about the group. The interview was conducted by Mykhailo Kvasiuk, communications manager of the UCU Dean’s Office for Student Life. Translated excerpts follow.
[Kvasiuk} Why was a student theater group created at UCU?
[Khudzyk]: First of all, the students wanted theatrical experience. On the other hand, the university administration saw the point of a theater being based at an institution of higher education. And, certainly, some theatre professionals saw the point of leading the process of introducing these studies at our university. These three reactions flowed together to create a unique center…
[Kvasiuk] As the director of the theater, what value do you think a student theater has?
[Khudzyk] First of all, I am greatly pleased to be in a unique space. The theater is called On Simon’s Pillars, and we use this figurative series of pillars in various ways as a foundation on which to build our lives and creativity…
The first pillar for us, in a theological sense, is Christ-centered. For me the theater is sacred territory…
The second pillar is a laboratory, that is, any of our creative works is always a search, going deeper into the material, into the context that is connected with discoveries which we sincerely share during performances. We present new works, heard for the first time on stage. For example, Hryhoriy Skovoroda’s “The Poor Lark,” “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis, and also texts of military chaplain Fr. Andriy Zelinskyi, Andriy Homeniuk, Ihor Kozlovskyi, Serhiy Zhadan, and others.
The third pillar is playfulness. For me it’s very important that students, who are the target audience, receive joy from what’s done, so that each is open to “play” in the form of a journey, a game, a meeting. This third pillar is also important because it warns us not to be too serious and motivates us to remember that time is given for people to rejoice in love…
[Kvasiuk] How does the theater live during a pandemic?
[Khudzyk] The quarantine struck at theatrical practices and direct meetings. For me, this was a challenge to discipline and a testing of values: Why is it important for us to be involved in this? What are we looking for here and finding? … I see that the actors hunger for “live” contact, to embrace another, to rehearse together and feel a connection with the viewer. For now we are trying to move our activities online, and this has been successful for us. Last April we started a project called “Quarantine is not a punishment,” where we read poems and also did an online performance of Ovid. Theater, nevertheless, is live communication, and in these quarantine zones we are trying to carve out possibilities for premieres with verteps [Christmas plays], meetings, and solo shows, for example, with Shevchenko days.
[Kvasiuk, a question for Anastasia Skoropad, UCU student and actress] Anastasia, why did you decide to join On Simon’s Pillars?
[Skoropad] I first took part in the UCU student theater group as a first-year student. I was interested in acting and the performing arts, though I was more interested in the art of film. I then had an opportunity to try myself as an actress and I thought “Why not?” As a third-year student, I understood that I’d like to be involved with this activity throughout my life, not simply as a hobby, but professionally.
