海角大神

Puppeteer Pavlo Saveliev opens the Sunday afternoon show with some questions for an audience that includes several dozen children.

鈥淒o you know how to behave in the theater?鈥� he asks with faux seriousness, proceeding to a series of rapid-fire queries.

鈥淐an you eat candy?鈥� he probes. The children respond firmly, 鈥淣o!鈥�

Is it OK to eat popcorn or to talk loudly? 鈥淣o!鈥� comes the resounding answer each time.

Then Mr. Saveliev smiles wryly and asks a trick question.

鈥淚s it OK to laugh?鈥� he inquires. When once again the children shout 鈥淣o,鈥� he booms back at them: 鈥淥h, but yes! Yes, you may laugh! Especially during these hard times, please laugh as much as you wish!鈥�

For the next hour, the laughter is indeed copious as the children delight to a traditional tale, related through puppets, of a brave boy named Ivasyk and his silly but faithful animal sidekicks who together best an evil ogre. For Mr. Saveliev and the rest of the troupe at Kharkiv State Academic Puppet Theater, this laughter brings with it a sense of 鈥渕ission accomplished.鈥� It鈥檚 also a reminder of why they keep the show going despite the war raging around them.

鈥淚f we can help the people of Kharkiv, but especially the children, to forget even for a short time the fear, the sadness, and the terrible loss they are experiencing because of this war,鈥� Mr. Saveliev says, 鈥渢hen we feel that what we are doing is very much worth it.鈥�

Puppets have been a part of Kharkiv, Ukraine鈥檚 second-largest city, at least since the city rivaled St. Petersburg as a center of culture and higher education during the Russian Empire. The puppet theater academy was founded during the Soviet era, and its grand theater building showcases the important role puppetry has played in a city known for theatrical arts.

But Russia鈥檚 full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 dealt Kharkiv鈥檚 puppetry a heavy blow, as much of the city鈥檚 population of 1.4 million evacuated in the face of the Russian onslaught. The puppet theater closed its doors.

Yet, as it turned out, not for long.

Howard LaFranchi/海角大神

Ms. Kushnirenko and Mr. Saveliev perform at Kharkiv State Academic Puppet Theater.

Inspired by the resilience and steely resistance of the city鈥檚 residents, the theater restarted its shows within months of the invasion 鈥� albeit in Kharkiv鈥檚 underground subway stations, where many families sought emergency shelter from Russian bombs. Three years later, a significant portion of the Kharkivites who fled their city have returned, even though the war 鈥� and the random bombings that kill civilians and devastate neighborhoods 鈥� continues.

鈥淎 rich life despite everything鈥�

Mirroring a stubborn city鈥檚 revival, the puppet theater has left the subway. It operates instead in a basement space that allows the show to go on even if air raid sirens blare.

鈥淪o many people have returned; businesses are reopening every day even though our neighbors are just as active towards us,鈥� says puppeteer Dariia Kushnirenko, referring to a belligerent Russia, which looms just 20 miles east of Kharkiv. 鈥淲e are determined to be part of what helps people not just to keep going, but to have a rich life despite everything.鈥�

For Oksana, a foster mother of six orphaned children whom she and her husband have brought to the show on this cold November day, the lessons the puppets convey are almost as important as the laughter they elicit. 鈥淲e came here because we knew it would make the children happy, but it鈥檚 also important that they learn through the story that life goes on, that we all have trials but life wins over death,鈥� says Oksana, who declined to give her last name.

鈥淓specially in these times, there is a lot of negativity and anxiety in our daily life,鈥� she adds, noting that her adult son is fighting on the front lines near the embattled city of Pokrovsk. 鈥淏ut here we get a slice of positivity and a reminder that there is good. And for the children,鈥� she adds with a touch of maternal wit and wisdom, 鈥渢hat message of positivity might be better received from a little boy puppet.鈥�

When queried, the younger children in Oksana鈥檚 foster family say they liked the show because it was funny, or because the boy puppet Ivasyk had friends. And they liked the action scenes in which the puppets bonked one another on the head.

But 15-year-old Olena takes a question about the show鈥檚 value more seriously. 鈥淲ith this funny tale, we are able to understand what is good and what is evil in the world,鈥� says the devoted 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� fan. 鈥淲e see that in the end evil loses and good lives on in us.鈥�

A blossoming of the arts

Lesson-learning amid the laughter has been the goal of Ms. Kushnirenko and Mr. Saveliev as the Kharkiv academy has taken its puppetry around Ukraine and to other European cities in recent years. And according to Mr. Saveliev, who is a member of a Kharkiv volunteer army unit, the nationalist aspects of the troupe鈥檚 work have blossomed in response to Russia鈥檚 aggression.

鈥淲ith our home under attack, we have incorporated pride in our country and more references to our roots as Ukrainians into our shows,鈥� he says. Noting that about half the academy鈥檚 staff joined him in the army unit that became known as the Puppet Defense Forces, he says puppetry and the defense of Ukraine became intertwined.

In May 2022, when the academy restarted shows in the subway, the traditional story of a boy setting off on adventures that teach him life lessons was adapted to portray a displaced family persevering and defending its home against an evil aggressor.

At Christmastime, the academy adapted a classical Ukrainian tradition of presenting the Nativity story with puppets to tell a tale of Cossack warriors defending children and families 鈥� one with a newborn baby 鈥� against Russian invaders. 鈥淚n the end, the Cossacks win,鈥� Mr. Saveliev says, 鈥渁nd they all sing, 鈥楢ll will be well!鈥欌��

Mr. Saveliev and Ms. Kushnirenko, who are married with two children, say they learn from their sons what works with young audiences and what risks falling flat.

Presenting their shows to children living through frightening times has only deepened Ms. Kushnirenko鈥檚 conviction that puppets have a special ability to heal and fortify their audience.

鈥淲hen you see a mother in the audience crying, and the children with wide eyes and absorbing every moment, you realize the role puppets can play in rehabilitation,鈥� she says, cradling one of the puppets. 鈥淭hey really can restore a sense of security and strength to go forward where before there was only shock and sadness.鈥�