Anatoliy
Neyolov

“Black Square” is an improvisation theater and acting school in Kyiv. “During a fire, you need to save honor, especially if this fire is the last, and you may not be reborn like a phoenix, so you need to know that you are not thought of as a bastard, for whom only money matters! You have to close all your debts, all your problems. It is essential. Respect. We were quarantined according to this principle.” But even when the doors of the theater were closed indefinitely, some events gave hope and support. “The most interesting thing is that I came to the theater alone during quarantine, checked the pumps there, switched the heating from cold to warm, or vice versa. And the spectators came and said, “We just stand here at the door.” I went out with them to smoke. They said, “We are used to coming here for a year, two, five… We saw a hundred performances! We just walked by, came to stand at the door of the theater…” That added energy.” Whether the theater will continue to exist after the opening of the door is an open question. “Now, our chances of survival are 50/50. The theater is not gasoline, not bread. It is not needed for life; it is for the soul. So we can close at any time, even without quarantine, if we make a shit product. We are not competing with other theaters; we are competing with an era when a person can download “Avatar” or “Avengers” in good quality and sit at home in shorts and with chips. To tear the viewer off the couch and make them come through all the traffic jams to the city center, we must show an exclusive product. If we do not do this, we will close without quarantine.”