Kharkiv educational and theater school as an artistic phenomenon

The chapter examines the stages of formation and development of theater education in Ukraine, the contribution of the Kharkiv theater school to its establishment and modernization. The socio-cultural basis for the establishment of the Department of Actor's Mastery of the Faculty of Performing Arts of the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture, the development of its creative assets in the field of the formation of the school of acting art have been determined. The role of the open creative laboratory of the department: the experimental workshop of theater studies (EKMATEDOS) in the development of unique educational methods for training actors of the dramatic theater has been substantiated. The innovativeness of methodological and practical production work with future actors of the dean of the Faculty of Performing Arts of the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture, Honored Artist of Ukraine Ihor Borys, has been proven, the essence and features of his directorial and pedagogical school have been revealed; and the means of increasing the effectiveness of the specialists’ training in the "Scenic Art" specialty have been determined. The purpose of the study is to reveal the specifics of the activities of the KSAC Actor's Mastery Department from the moment of its foundation to the present as an important component of the Kharkiv educational and theater school. The basic methodology is a complex combination of general scientific research approaches, in particular historical and genetic, which allowed to determine the main stages of the evolution of the object of study. The heuristic potential of art and cultural approaches contributed to revealing the specific features of the Kharkiv theater school and its creative laboratories as an artistic phenomenon, their influence on the culture of the region and Ukraine as a whole. The addition is the use of interdisciplinary and comparative approaches, systematic and historiographic research methods. The conclusion summarizes the own theoretical achievements and innovative methods of acting departments of KSAC, outlines a number of advantages that contribute to the education and upbringing of a modern, competitive actor of dramatic theater and cinema, characterizes the methodological achievements of the experimental workshop of theater studies (EKMATEDOS) from the moment of its foundation at the beginning of the department to today. It is claimed that the combination of theoretical studies with practical experience of playing on stage allows the actor to master stage skills more thoroughly, to open new ways to reveal the personality of the character and embody it on stage. The relevance of the scientific research is due to the fact that for the first time there is a theoretical attempt to understand and generalize the methodological and practical development of the Kharkiv educational and theater school, formed in the process of the creative activity of the Actor’s Mastery Department of of the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture, to evaluate the contribution of the creative laboratories of the department to the enrichment of educational methods of training an actor of the dramatic theater and cinema, to outline the problems and new prospects for the development of this direction, to identify previously unexplored aspects of the development of Kharkiv theater education. The practical significance of the research lies in the fact that the activities of the KSAC Actor's Mastery Department are revealed in the context of the work of its creative laboratories and author's schools, the methods of which can be used by other institutions of higher theater education in Ukraine.