Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre (Kyiv)

 theatre, 1898_construction

Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre is a Ukrainian theatre in Kiev.

The building of the theatre was built in 1898 by Eduard Bradtman and G.Shleifer for the Nikolai Solovtsov's Society of Drama Actors (better known as the Solovtsov Theatre).

The theatre was established in 1920 in Vinnytsia as the Vinnytsia Theatre of Franko, but it moved to Kiev only in 1926 from Kharkiv. During the World War II 1941-44 it was evacuated to Semipalatinsk (Semey) and Tashkent. Except for that time period, the theatre is quartered in the former Solovtsov theatre since 1926. The original troupe of Solovtsov theatre was dissolved, while some of its members founded the Theatre of Russian Drama and moved to the Bourgogne Theatre.

The theatre is located in a park area next to the Bankova Street.