Puppet of Saint Nicholas, from the Mezhyhirya Vertep

In 1923, a political vertep (or Revolutionary Puppet Theater) appeared at the Mezhyhirya Art and Ceramic Technical School (which 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. The traditional Ukrainian vertep was radically redesigned. To interest the rural audience, the puppets was made of bizarre, unknown shape. The repertoire of the Mezhyhirya Puppet Theater was not limited to the scenes dedicated to the events of international political life. One of the most important propaganda tasks of the Soviet era was to overcome religious influence. At the end of P. Gorbenko’s book “Revolutionary Puppet Theater“ , is the one surviving play of the Theater Holiday in Paradise. Its main task was to desecrate the church by exposing its shortcomings, dehumanizing its active adherents and clergy, and ridiculing the saints, angels, and God. The anti-religious character of the production was enhanced by the symbolism of the traditional Ukrainian nativity scene. The latter had two floors - sacred above and profane (secular) - below. The creators of the chest for Mezhyhirya vertep have abandoned the traditional two floors, and there is no upper floor in it. According to the plotline, "God" generously treats his followers, including St. Nicholas, Archangel Gabriel, ordinary priest, and others. It is only the "Martyr" who wants to be rewarded for his physical suffering, but he is ridiculed for his excessive faith. The vertep ceased to exist in 1924 for ideological reasons.