Kharkiv Opera Theater’s Resilience: A Basement Stage and Hope Amidst War in Ukraine

The Kharkiv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, which has stopped performing or rehearsing on stage due to the risk to actors and audiences, has now equipped its basement with a stage, a makeshift room for the orchestra, and rows of chairs. The theatre plans to ask city authorities for permission to perform regularly, as the basement will also serve as a bomb shelter. City authorities say that despite the difficulties, many people have returned to Kharkiv after fleeing at the start of the invasion. The city, which had a population of 2 million before the war, is now said to be home to more than a million people.