Ukrainians find escape in theatres as the war rages on around them
發佈日期: 2025-05-03 19:38
TVB News
In Ukraine, amid the air-raid sirens and blackouts, the country's theatre life is still thriving.
Tickets for shows in most cities are hard to come by as Ukrainians look to theatres for escape from the war with Russia.
Meanwhile, Russian drone and missile attacks continue.
This is the Lviv National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Ukraine, 70 kilometres from the border with Poland.
Where the director keeps one eye on rehearsals.
And the other on a special monitor that warns of Russian air raids.
The war may be raging on around them, but theatres have been thriving in Ukraine.
From grand opera houses to independent stages, performances are selling out weeks in advance.
Vasyl Vovkun, the theatre's General and Artistic Director, said he believes the theatre is like psychotherapy for the audience, fulfilling its mission during times of war, to bring people confidence and hope in victory.
This theatre-goer in Lviv said that many people from the capital Kyiv travel to other cities to visit the theatre because demand is so high.
The shows are often interrupted by air-raid sirens.
Vovkun said audience and performers would rush downstairs to the shelters and return to their places once it is safe.
The U.S. has been trying to broker a deal to end the three-year war but the attacks continue.
On the other side of the country, at least 44 people, including an 11-year-old child, were injured after the latest Russian drone attack on Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv.
Several residential buildings, warehouses, production facilities, vehicles and other infrastructure were damaged.
In the eastern province of Zaporizhzhia, one person was killed and dozens injured in a drone strike.
One residential building partially collapsed and caught fire.
Rescue teams pulled three people from the rubble.
The attack came just hours after Kyiv and Washington signed an agreement granting the U.S. access to Ukraine's mineral resources.
While back inside the theatre, the show must go on.
People are now searching for inspiration, beauty, a sense of peace, said this choreographer. They want visual pleasure, intellectual delight, and it all makes sense. Culture makes sense.
