page_title: Les Podervianskyi
section_title: Cultural background
hierarchical_section_title: Les Podervianskyi / Cultural background
caption_attribution_description: en:Les Podervyansky in anarchist suit on festival in Hulyai Pole. 24 august, 2006. Українська: Лесь Подерев'янський у костюмі анархіста на фестивалі «День Незалежності з Нестором Махном». Гуляй Поле. 24 серпня 2006 року.
context_page_description: Les Podervianskyi is a Ukrainian painter, poet, playwright and performer. He is most famous for his absurd, highly satirical, and at times obscene short plays. Their average duration is five to fifteen minutes, with some exceptions. Podervianskyi has a cult following among Kiev intellectuals.
context_section_description: Podervianskyi wrote most of his works in the Soviet Union in the mid to late 1980s, a time of stagnation in politics and social life—the of era of "zastoy" and the time of rapid changes in consciousness. He observed the people in that situation, their reactions and behaviour. And most thoroughly he watched the speech patterns of outsiders and commoners, people from the country. The author places common people in grotesque absurd situations and shows how they would act and speak much the same regardless of what happens.
  Podervianskyi's works are highly regarded owing to his attention to detail. Many behavioural modes are easily recognizable, and people are able to recognize themselves in the plays. The general absurdity of the situation makes the characters' absurd actions more acceptable, and although certain phrases the author uses are politically incorrect, his humour is generally neutral.
  Podervianskyi says he draws a lot of his inspiration from the years of his army service. There is also an opinion that his plays are in some way inspired by works of Samuel Beckett. This writer was favorite also for his friend artist Nicholas Zalevsky with whom he graduated Kyiv's  Shevchenko State Art School in 1968.
caption: Les Podervianskyi in anarchist suit at an  underground art festival in Huliaipole. 24 August 2006.
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