The Mariupol Drama Theater, destroyed in an airstrike by Russian forces in 2022 while hundreds of civilians took shelter there, will reopen its doors.
While Russian occupation authorities herald the building’s reconstruction as a sign of renewal, the theater’s former actors say this reopening is like “dancing on bones”.
The Kremlin has made the reconstruction of Mariupol a kind of calling card of what it plans to do in the regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia, but this occupation has been accompanied by arrests, exile of opponents and confiscation of properties from thousands of Ukrainians who were left without apartments that were legally theirs.
The Mariupol Drama Theater is expected to reopen by the end of this month with a performance of The Scarlet Flowera Russian fairy tale, after being rebuilt almost from scratch over the last two years.
“The theater is being reborn together with Mariupol. Russian and Soviet classics are returning to the stage”, says a statement from the theater.
The attack on the theater remains one of the most striking incidents of the war in Ukraine, as the building was bombed despite the word “Children” being painted in bold letters on the square in front. At least a dozen people died, but the real number is probably much higher.