Puppet of General Ludendorff, from the Mezhyhirya Vertep

In 1923, a political vertep (or Revolutionary Puppet Theater) appeared at the Mezhyhirya Art and Ceramic Technical School (were located on the territory of the Mezhyhirya monastery, where the Boychukists worked). The initiators were students and teachers of the school, among them was Pavlo Gorbenko. Artists of Mezhyhirya decided to combine their work with political propaganda, which was demanded by the Soviet authorities. In the Mezhyhirya version, the traditional Ukrainian vertep was radically redesigned. First of all, the sacred floor disappears. In addition, puppets become full-fledged works of art, filled with a kind of artistic ideology. Puppets were created under the direction of sculptor Yevhen Sagaidachny, who gave them features of the Boychukizm style. The images of puppets were made with portrait accuracy and depicted real people - world politicians of the time. In the grotesque form, puppets also expressed their character. Unfortunately, the scenarios of political sketches did not preserve. It is known that the scenes did not last long. We can assume that the text of the performances was close to the modern political humor in the TV show. The main task was to show the features of the characters that are best parodied and caricatured. By external features, we can identify General Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937), who was one of the most famous commanders of the German army in the First World War. The vertep ceased to exist in 1924 for ideological reasons.