Theatre director, founder and artistic director of Les Kurbas Theater Lviv (1988-2019).
Worked as an actor at the Maria Zankovetska Theatre before going to study directing with Mark Zakharov and Anatoliy Vasiliev at the Institute of Theatrical arts (GITIS) in Moskow. In 1988 he founded the Kurbas Theatre and became its aAtistic Director, a position he has held ever since. The author of many projects and festivals, Kuchynsky has directed over twenty works at the Kurbas Theatre, and additional productions at the Ivan Franko National Theatre in Kyiv and Taras Shevchenko Theatre in Kharkiv. In 2001 his studio marged with the Lviv Ivan Franko National University (LNU) where he has lead courses in acting and directing. He has also conducted masterclasses Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Italy, Great Brittan and the United States. His work has been lauded in Ukraine and internationally; he has been awarded prizes for his direction and artistic contribution to Ukraine, in addition to a shelf full of “best director” awards from international festivals, he is the recipient of the Vasyl Stus Prize. Volodymyr Kuchynsky is an “Honored Artist of Ukraine” a title given by the Ukrainian Government to acknowledge excellence in achievement in one’s field. And in 2019 – “People's Artist of Ukraine”
EDUCATION:
1984-1985 Directing workshop of Mark Zakharov, Moscow
1985-1988 Directing workshop of Anatoliy Vasiliev, Moscow
THEATER EXPERIENCE:
1984-1988 Actor of the Maria Zankovetska Lviv Theatre
Since 1988 founder, artistic director of the Les Kurbas Theater, Lviv
Since 2019 Chief Director in Residence of the Les Kurbas Theater, Lviv
DRAMATIC PRODUCTIONS:
Les Kurbas Lviv Academic Theatre
1988 "Garden of Unyieding Sculptures" by Lina Kostenko
1988 "The Court of King Henry III" by Alexander Dumas
1989 "An Evening of Modern Ukrainian Poetry" (Vasyl Stus, Lina Kostenko, Vasyl Symonenko)
1989 "The Law" by Volodymyr Vynnychenko
1989 "In the Field of Blood " by Lesia Ukrainka
1990 "Johanna, The Wife of Chuza" by Lesia Ukrainka
1990 "Between the Two Forces" by Volodymyr Vynnychenko
1991 "The Dreams" by based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"
1992 "The Illusions" by based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"
1993 "Grace-given Erodiy" by Hryhoriy Skovoroda
1994 "Games For Faust" by based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"
1995 "Apocrypha" by Lesia Ukrainka
1996 "The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov
1996 "The Dream", Taras Shevchenko Poetry Night
1997 "Prayer of the Stars," based on the poetry of Bohdan Ihor Antonych
1998 "The Stone Host" by Lesia Ukrainka
2000 "In Praise of Eros" based on Plato's "The Banquet"
2001 "Marko Prokliaty, or the Legend From the East" a dramatic symphony of Vasyl Stus poetry
2002 "The Stone Host" by Lesia Ukrainka
2002 "Silenus Alcibiadis" based on Plato's "The Banquet"
2003 "Bohdan" by KLIM
2004 "The Narcissus" by Hryhoriy Skovoroda
2005 "Dance of Illusions" by Luigi Pirandello "Still Better Than Before"
2006 "Ma-Na Hat-Ta (Divineland)" based on Ingeborg Bachmann’s "The Good God of Manhattan"
2008 "Amnesia / Petits Crimes Conjougaux (Partners in Crime)" by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
2009 "Formulas of Ecstasy" by Bohdan Ihor Antonych poetry
2010 "Between the Two Forces" by Volodymyr Vynnychenko
2013 "Thus spoke Zarathustra" based on Nietzsche and KLIM
2015 "Grace-given Erodiy" by Hryhoriy Skovoroda
2016 "Knives in Hens or The Legacy of the Miller" by David Harrover
2019 "Buchenwald cabaret. Evening 1" by KLIM
Taras Shevchenko Kharkiv Academic Drama Theater:
1999 "The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov
Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater:
2006 “…In the midst of paradise on the square…" by KLIM
PEDAGOGICAL ACTIVITY
1988-2001 Theatre studio at the Les Kurbas Theater, Lviv
1988-1999 Masterclasses in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Sevastopol (Ukraine), Moscow, St. Petersburg (Russia), Krakow (Poland), New York, Boston, Philadelphia (USA), Pontedera (Italy)
1996 Lecture Course at Columbia, Pennsylvania Universities and Saratoga International Theater Institute
2000 A series of lectures and workshops at VIAT, Kyiv
2001-2005 Acting course at Ivan Franko Lviv National University
2005-2009 Directing course at Ivan Franko Lviv National University
AWARDS
1988 Vasyl Stus Prize
1993 Experiment Award from Actors Union of Ukraine and Union of Theater Critics
1994 Honored Artist of Ukraine
1994 Best Director Award for “Fun for Faust”, Golden Lion, Lviv
1994 Best performance Award for "Fun for Faust", Khersones Games, Sevastopol
1997 Best Performance Award for "Fun for Faust", Slavic Wreath, Moscow
2000 Les Kurbas State Prize
2001 Best Performance Award for “The Apocrypha”, Khersones Games, Sevastopol
2001 Best Director Award for “Eros Praise”, Bosporan Agon, Kerch
2002 Best Director Award for “The Apocrypha”, Bosporus Agon, Kerch
2002 Best Performance Award for “Praise to Eros”, Stobi, Macedonia
2006 National Taras Shevchenko Prize in Theater Arts
2019 People's Artist of Ukraine