In wartime Ukraine, an all-female King Lear after actors were called to the front lines

A regional theatre adapts to the realities of war, with actresses taking male roles as actors are called up to front lines of Russia war

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Two actresses on stage at the Chernihiv Regional Youth Theatre in Ukraine. As most Ukrainian men have joined the armed forces in the war against Russia’s invasion, women at the theatre are taking on traditionally male roles. Photo: AP

Published: 4:15pm, 12 Mar 2025

The 43-year-old Ukrainian actress took to the stage wearing a black leather jacket and with a moustache painted on her face.

Ruslana Ostapko was performing in multiple traditionally male roles in a recent production of the Chernihiv Regional Youth Theatre. With so many men serving in Ukraine’s armed forces to repel Russia’s invasion, the theatre has adapted to the realities of war, and women are taking the spotlight.

“We were rehearsing Shakespeare’s King Lear when suddenly our men were taken to the front,” said the theatre’s 52-year-old director, Roman Pokrovskyi. “We only had the female part of the troupe left. So we thought, ‘Well, if men played women in Shakespeare’s times, why not give it a try?’”

The efforts of the theatre in Chernihiv, the capital of a region that borders Russia and Belarus, reflect a broader reality in Ukraine where women are stepping into roles once dominated by men, sustaining not just their industries but the spirit of national resistance.

An actress performs a male role on the stage at the Chernihiv Regional Youth Theatre. Photo: AP

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, four of the theatre’s male actors and five stage workers have joined the army, leaving the troupe short-handed. Only two men still perform on the stage, and most stage work is done by women. But the troupe has reinvented itself by adapting its repertoire, transforming its space into a hub for art and wartime volunteer work, and casting women in most roles.