Text for Supplementary Reading. A Miracle.

David Garrick was a famous -English actor of the 18th century. At the beginning of his stage career he worked in a company of actors which toured to the south of England.

One summer day the company arrived at a little town. They staged a tragedy based on an episode of the Punic War, The evening was warm and they played in an open-air theatre.

At the beginning of the second act there was a scene of a battle-field. There were several bodies of dead soldiers lying on the stage. David Garrick played the part of one of these dead bodies. Ha was lying on the stage and trying hard to look like a real dead body. An actor playing the part of a Roman general came forward and, standing over Garrick, began to recite a monologue.

Suddenly Garrick heard a mosquito buzzing near his ear. Then there were two mosquitoes. The next moment several mosquitoes were stinging him in the face and in the leg. Garrick wanted to scratch himself, but he was playing the part of a dead man, so he could not move He suffered greatly.

Meanwhile the general went on with his mono­logue. "Look at this young man, he was saying, "Only a few hours ago he was full of life'... and there he lies now — a dead body! Only a miracle can bring him back to life!"

And just at that moment Garrick, who could not stand the mosquitoes any longer, began scratching himself violently!

The audience burst out laughing. Of course, the actor playing the part of the general could not continue his monologue. He was thinking hard how to save the situation. At last he had an idea. "The gods have heard me!" he cried" out. "The miracle has happened!"

- Retell this story. Use the words first, next, then, finally, besides, because of, that’s why, to cut a long story short, frankly speaking, as a matter of fact, to tell you the truth.

Les Kurbas.

Les Kurbas ( 1887 – 1942), one of the founders of modern Ukrainian theatre, was born into a family of actors in the village of Stary Skalat, in Ternopil Region. In 1907 he finished the Ternopil classical gymnasium where instruction was carried out in the Ukrainian language and went on to study philosophy at Vienna and Lviv Universities. He began his carrier as an actor with the amateur theatre, then joined the travelling troup which belonged to the Theatrical Society " Ruska Besida".

In 1915 he organized the Ternopil Theatrical Evenings which became the first stationary theatre in the Western Ukraine. A year later he accepted the invitation of Mikola Sadovsky, a prominent Ukrainian actor and stage director, and went to Kyiv where he joined the Ukrainian stationary theatre.

As a stage director of the Ukrainian Drama Theatre named after Taras Shevchenko in Kharkiv ( 1920) and leader of the Actors Association " Berezil" (1922), People`s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, Les Kurbas, carried out many successful theatrical productions based on plays by Ukrainian, Russian and foreign playwrights. He worked in the movies, too.

In 1922, in Kyiv, Les Kurbas founded the " Berezil" Arts` Association. There the stage director confirmed his creative quest, he used to find new works for staging, in particular, those by Mikola Kulish and Ivan Mykytenko, and new forms of expressing them. He brought up a brilliant galaxy of actors and stage directors: Amvrosiy Buchma, Natalia Uzhviy, Marian Krushelnitski, and others.

It is on the fundamentals of Kurbas` theatrical aesthetic that modern Ukrainian theatre rests today.

Les Kurbas fell a victim of Stalin`s repressions. He was exiled to Solovki islands where he died.

According to the decision of UNESCO a century of Les Kurbas` birth, a great figure in Ukrainian theatre, was marked in 1987. The memorial museum of Les Kurbas was opened in his birthplace, the village Stary Skalat. The exhibits of the museum testify to how much attention he paid to the theatrical art in Ukraine. The cause to which Kurbas dedicated his life has many worthy followers.

Make a chart for L. Kurbas` life.

Years Events

1887

1907

1915

1916

1920

1922

1987