Kyiv National Academic Youth Theater

Kyiv

вул. Прорізна, 17

About the venue

The Young Theater is a super popular space among theatergoers in Kyiv: history and present

The Kyiv National Academic Young Theater is a legendary institution with a rich history. The creative team works at 17 Prorizna St. The year the Young Theater was founded is 1979. The stage history of the Young Theater began on April 26, 1980, when the play “… With Spring I Will Return to You!” was first staged!

Later, in 1995, the theater received a new name – Young Theater. This was done to honor the memory of the innovative director Les Kurbas, who created his own “Young Theater” in the 1920s. Over the years, artistic directors have changed, and each of them has left their mark on this history.

A special role in the formation of the theater was played by Viktor Shulakov, the author of the productions “After Two Hares” by Mykhailo Starytsky and “Matchmaking on Goncharivka”, which became recognizable symbols of the Molody Theater. “Matchmaking on Goncharivka” is still in the repertoire, having more than three decades of stage history and more than 600 performances behind it.

Today's Molody Theater is a large creative map with new directors, fresh repertoire solutions and a team that perceives the theater as its own home. For actors, directors and all employees, it is not just a workspace - it is a place where they live and give all their energy to creativity.

Main achievements

Different directors at different times literally built the theater brick by brick, forming its current image. Viktor Shulakov made the institution famous with performances that have stood the test of time. Les Tanyuk returned the name Molody to the institution. Stanislav Moiseyev became the driving force of reforms, opening international and Ukrainian festival venues for the theater.

Since 2012, Andriy Fedorovych Bilous has taken over the artistic direction. During his work, Molody has changed physically and internally: a buffet, gym, prop and carpentry workshops, a spacious rehearsal hall, a microstage and comfortable two-story dressing rooms have appeared. The troupe has been replenished with young talents, the number of premieres has reached record levels, and Molody has become a topic of conversation in Europe. And already in 2025, Belousov was replaced as the director of the theater by Stanislav Moiseyev, who returned to Molody after a long break.

Among the important achievements of the team, which is open to experiments and new forms of cooperation, is its accession to the European Theatre Convention in 2014, which gave employees, from stage directors to managers, the opportunity to receive grants, study and establish international contacts.

The team and repertoire of the Young Theatre in Kyiv

The troupe of the theatre has at various times been represented by both young and experienced actors: Stanislav Boklan, Oleksiy Vertynskyi, Nataliya Vasko, Liliana Rebryk, Tamara Yatsenko, Maksym Zinevych, Artem Martynishyn and many others.

The repertoire of the Young Theatre covers a wide range of genres - from classical texts to modern drama, from psychological drama to plastic performances. It presents:

works by Ukrainian authors ("Potion" by Olga Kobylyanska, "Pathetic Sonata" by Mykola Kulish, "After Two Hares" by Mykhailo Starytsky, "Lie" by Volodymyr Vynnychenko and others);
plays by foreign classics ("Tartuffe" by Moliere, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare, "Beauty and the Beast" by Charles Perrault and others;
modern comedies and dramatic stories ("Liars Needed!" by Yves Zhamiak, "Right There! Right Then!" by Bernard Slade, "Sasha, Take Out the Trash" by Natalia Vorozhbyt and others.