Домашнє завдання

11 Form. Attention!

Homework for Friday, 20.04.18: to learn the words about theatre; read and translate the text:

My visit to the theatre

         I am a great theatergoer. And if I have free time I always go to the theatre to see a new play. There are only two professional theatres in our town: the Musical Drama Theatre and the Puppet Theatre. As I like to see modern and classical plays I go to the Musical Drama Theatre.

         Usually I book tickets beforehand but sometimes I buy them at the bow-office of the theatre. The best seats are in the stalls. The most expensive seats are in the boxes. The cheapest seats are in the balcony and in the gallery. As for me I prefer to sit in the stalls, in row six or eight. It is not far from the stage and I don’t like opera glasses.

         As a rule the performance begins at half past seven and finishes at about eleven o’clock. I come to the theatre earlier to leave my coat at the cloak-room and buy a programme with the cast from the usher.

         The theatre is always full of people especially when it is a first night performance. When the third bell goes and the audience is comfortably seated, the lights go out and the curtain rises. The play begins.

         That night the Ukrainian classical play “Natalka Poltavka” by I. Kotliarevskyi was on. The leading parts were played by young actors and actresses. The costumes, dresses and scenery were superb. When the performance was over, the spectators burst into applause. The play was a great success. I enjoyed every minute of it.

         The play was written in 1819 in Ukrainian, first performed in 1821 in the city of Kharkiv. The play served as the basis for the operetta by Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko and it has also been made into a number of films in Ukraine and abroad. The play tells us about the lives of the common Ukrainian people and peasants. Lysenko took the original songs from the play and wrote orchestral accompaniments to these folk songs and dances in the play. The play shows us the great love of Natalka and Petro. The sweethearts planned to get married, however Natalka’s father refused them because Petro had not enough money to keep Natalka in the manner he thought that she should be kept. Petro went away to earn money and came back only after 5 years. The loves were united again.