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Ivan Franko National Drama Theatre
"Aeneid" ['i:nud], a comedy in two acts. Director Serhii Danchenko, music by Serhii Bezusenko, starring Bohdan Stupka. Ivan Franko National Drama Theatre, 3 Ivan Franko Sq., 229-59-91. Sept. 5, 7 p. m. Tickets Hr 2—20.
Audiences watching this two-century-old comedy classic can't help learning a little Ukrainian history. "Aeneid", based on Virgil's epic, was written by Ivan Kotliarevskyi and first published in 1798. A masterpiece of national humor, it was the first work of the new Ukrainian literature written in colloquial Ukrainian language.
It marked the emergence of modern Ukrainian literature, which helped standardize the language and prompted the birth of the nationalist movement. Symbolically, the comedy is being presented at the Ivan Franko Theatre, named after the writer and poet who did so much to promote the Ukrainian language and sense of nationhood. In his "Aeneid", Kotliarevskyi essentially preserves the original Trojan characters and their relationships, but introduces a new setting and social interpretation. The
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