CULTURAL MANAGEMENT IN THEATRE : BETWEEN CREATIVITY AND STRATEGY

Abstract

The is centered on the questioning the problem of the false conflict between cultural management and the creative process in the Ukrainian theatre environment. It studies the origins of the stereotype of management practices that were influenced by the post-Soviet system of centralized control and reveals the explanation of the concept of cultural management by the simple grant activities. Demonstrating successfully the models of integrating the artistic vision and professional management based on world practice (Royal Shakespeare Company, Berliner Ensemble, Public Theater) is done.
It is held that strategic planning does not fence in but actually frees creativity, as it makes a provision of more resources for the experiments and enables the institution to be more resilient. A lot of the emphasis is on the change of theatre management under the circumstance of full-scale war, when crisis management becomes a tool for survival and resistance.
The article deals with the peculiarities of theatres working in the frontline areas where new management practices are emerging: the mobile performance formats, the educational and therapeutic programs, and the funding sources' diversification.
It is argued that skillful cultural management gives the theatre the power of the mission and makes it possible for the theatre to be a timely responder to the most urgent social problems. Some of the practical and strategic recommendations on how to bring about the implementation of the Ukrainian theatre institutions are put forward, such as training programs for theatre managers, involvement of professional managers, adaptation of foreign management tools to the local cultural sector.