Twelfth Night

The production of "Macbeth" by Kyiv's National Academic Drama Theatre named after Ivan Franko, directed by Ivan Uryvskyi, transposes Shakespeare's tragedy into a world of hybrid warfare, media manipulation, and information pressure. The classic story of ambition, murder, and guilt becomes here a study of the birth of tyranny and gradual dehumanization - a man who, under the pressure of power, transforms into a usurper.

The key directorial gesture is the transformation of the witches: they are not creatures from a dark forest, but three screens that observe, record, and influence the characters' actions. Evil does not arrive in a recognizable mythological form, but in the language of news, algorithms, and manipulated emotions. The production was created in collaboration with set designer Petro Bohomazov and costume designer Tetiana Ovsiichuk.

The production was created in a country that has lived under conditions of full-scale war since 2022. Themes of betrayal, paranoia, and moral decay do not feel like distant literary motifs here. The production poses a question to society as a whole: what will happen after victory, what kind of person returns from war, and how can we prevent power from transforming into tyranny once again.

A festive opening ceremony will take place before the performance. The production is presented in Ukrainian with Slovak and English subtitles, without intermission. During the performance, smoke, striking sound, and lighting effects are used. The production is realized with financial support and at the initiative of the Ukrainian Institute and with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Slovak Republic; the presentation of Ukrainian theatre reflects the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.