Viacheslav Khim’iak’s acting and pedagogical creativity in the context of the developing the Ukrainian theater music and drama school
Authors: Hordieiev Serhiy 
Published: March 2024

Statement of the problem. Viacheslav Antonovych Khim’iak (born in 1949) is among the renowned artists of Ternopil region. His name associates with an exceptionally fruitful period in the activity of leading theaters and theatrical universities, including the Н. Petrovsky Khmelnitsky Music and Drama Theater (now – M. Starytsky Khmelnitsky Academic Regional Music and Drama Theater), T. Shevchenko Ternopil Academic Drama Theater, S. Krushelnytska Ternopil Music School (now – S. Krushelnytska Ternopil Art Vocational College), and the Department of Theatrical Art of V. Hnatiuk Ternopil National Pedagogical University. V. A. Khim’iak acting, directing and teaching activities, which have continued from 1974 to the present time, is based primarily on his own creative experience, as well as theoretical and practical achievements of outstanding masters of the Ukrainian psychological theater school (H. Yura, S. Danchenko, B. Kozak, O. Kuzhelny, F. Stryhun, and others). In critical publications dedicated to V. Khim’iak, the issues of stage originality and pedagogical creativity, based on the specifics of his acting views, are revealed only ragmentarily (Korniienko, 1980; Sadovska & Sobutska, 2007; Vaniuha, 2019, 2020; Stelmashchuk, 2020). Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The stage and pedagogical activity of the artist has not yet become the subject of in-depth scientific research, so this article is the first attempt in this direction. The purpose of the article is to systematize, summarize, supplement, and expand the information about V. Khim’iak’s creation and his principles of educating young actors for recreating his image as an actor, director, and theatrical pedagogue, primarily using personal archival materials and interviews. V. Khim’iak’s stage pursuits are based on the creative discoveries of outstanding masters of Ukrainian and foreign theater of the 20th – early 21st centuries, his “personal” page of aesthetic, professional, methodological searches in the field of acting and directing skills, which organically continue in theatrical pedagogy. Research results and conclusion. In the main part of the article, the phases of formation and creative activity of V. Khim’iak as an actor, director, composer and theatrical pedagogue are discussed. It is noted that V. Khim’iak’s stage pursuits are based on the creative discoveries of outstanding masters of Ukrainian and foreign theater of the 20th – early 21st centuries, and on his “personal” page of aesthetic, professional, methodological searches in the field of acting and directing skills, which organically continue in theatrical pedagogy. V. Khim’iak, a talented actor who has long been searching for his path in acting and the methods of actor’s education, and ultimately found them relying on the pedagogical discoveries of the school of musical and drama theater, played over 100 roles and staged near 50 educational performances, and also nurtured an array of Ukrainian actors and theatrical educators who are successfully working both in domestic theaters and abroad today. Based on the analysis of V. Khim’iak’s creative and pedagogical activities, his contribution to the formation and development of the Ukrainian musical-dramatic theatrical school has been determined. In his own pedagogical method, the artist successfully embodied the traditions of Ukrainian acting and discoveries in the field of psychology of creativity. The experience of joint work with famous Ukrainian theater directors – A. Hashinsky, A. Bobrovsky, P. Zahrebelny, A. Horchinsky, F. Stryhun, O. Moseichuk – was of great importance for V. Khim’iak’s creative method. V. Khim’iak is recognized as the founder of the Ternopil theatrical school. His multifaceted stage and pedagogical activity and has significantly expanded the creative possibilities of acting and has become an integral part of the national theatrical culture.