Shakespeare in Ukraine

“Irena R. Makaryk’s Shakespeare in Ukraine is the culmination of four decades of outstanding research on Shakespeare’s role and influence in Ukrainian culture and gathers all the author’s published writings on the topic in a single volume with bibliographical updates, revisions, and a new author’s introduction for this new edition. It follows a chronological structure from the nineteenth century, when the Ukrainian language was repressed by tsarist Russia, to the present day, when Russia once again denies the existence of the Ukrainian language and people. Professor Makaryk’s volume is impeccably researched and written. It is and will be the go-to scholarship for anyone interested in the subject. It is a marvelous contribution to the field of Shakespeare and Ukrainian studies.” -- Michael M. Naydan, Woskob Family Professor of Ukrainian Studies, Pennsylvania State University “Since Putin’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, nearly a quarter of all theatre productions in Ukraine have been versions of plays by Shakespeare, many of extraordinary resonance, ingenuity, and imaginative power; and it seems only natural not only that President Zelensky should quote regularly from Hamlet but that he should have received a copy of Henry V as a gift from a British prime minister. Irena R. Makaryk’s wonderfully learned book helps us to understand how performing Shakespeare’s multivocal plays in Ukrainian has long been key to the assertion of Ukrainian identity, and it vividly sets the current achievements of Ukrainian Shakespeare under fire into the rich history of Ukrainian theatre and its struggle for independence.” -- Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham