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16 WWW. UNWLA.ORG “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, СІЧЕНЬ 2013 The Revival of Vertep in Ukraine by Olesia Wallo The lovely Ukrainian tradition of visiting homes at Christmas with a short Nativity play known as vertep has been observed at least since the 17th century. During the Soviet times, howe v- er, participating in a vertep could have serious repercussions, so th e colorfully dressed proce s- sions of vertep characters — shepherds, angels, the three magi, King Herod, Death, a devil, and var i- ous other figures — became a rare sight, especially in cities. The revival of this tradition by dissidents and patriotic L'viv int elligentsia in the Thaw per i- od came to a brutal end in January of 1972, when 19 vertep participants were arrested and later tried for anti - Soviet propaganda. Among them was Vasyl' Stus, who had actually joined the L'viv vertep that year during his brief v isit to the city. The next mass r e- vival of vertep traditions in Wes t- ern Ukraine did not occur until the late 1980s, when in the span of just one or two years, the pervasive atmosphere of fear gave way to el a tion, infectious enthusiasm, and a belief that a l most anything was possible. And v ertepy played no small part in this transformation. In the late 1980s, I was just a young L'viv schoo l- girl, but I remember vividly the lively vertep rehearsals in our tiny apartment, the pain s- taking work on costumes and props, and the growing excitement as Christmas approached. My pa r- ents were avid vertep organizers: year after year, they recruited a group of rel a- tives and friends to learn newly rediscovered ca r- ols and practice their roles in the Nativity play. Mom wrote many of the scripts herself, often in verse, and in the absence of published collections of carols, she would type up multiple copies of carol lyrics on her old typewriter. Dad, an electr i- cal engineer, built a special battery - powered star of Bethlehem that lit up at night. There were a l- ways one or two expert musicians on hand, who made sure the singing was up to par, and those with connections in the theater circles would do their best to procure at least some professionally made costumes. At first, their group practiced utmost caution, carefully hiding their colorful clothes under long winter coats and visiting only the homes of trusted friends and acquaintances. But already in 1988, the political and cultural cl i- mate began to change. The revival of publ ic vertep performances was spearheaded by the Lion Society ( Tovarystvo Leva ), a student and youth organization esta b- lished in L'viv in 1987 . Luba Procyk, a member of UNWLA Br anch 97 in Buffalo, NY, was part of the Lion Society's ethnographic section and a n active participant in its vertepy between 1989 and 1991. She remembers that the first open vertep proce s- sion went through downtown L'viv in January of 1988, under the watchful eye of local p o- lice. The next year, one of the cars tran s porting the vertep or ganized by the Lion Society was in a minor accident, which forced the pa r- ti c ipants to take public tran s- po r tation. While they were in i tially a bit apprehensive, especially when a few susp i- cious - looking men began harassing them on the tram, their group soon discovered just how much excitement they could generate in a city starved for uninhibited rel i- gious and cultural self - expression. “Tram drivers who spotted us walking downtown would make illegal stops along their route to offer us a ride and ask us to sing a few carols,” recalls Ms. Procyk, “and all the passengers would join in singing.” People in the streets smiled and r e- sponded to the group's greeting, “Christ Is Born!” with the traditional, but at that point almost fo r- gotten “Indeed He Is Born!” When the following Christmas the Lion Society's vertep visited the home of the renowned dissident Viacheslav Chornovil (one of those arres ted in 1972), both he and his wife, Atena Pashko, enjoyed it so much that they begged the group to do a repeat perfo r- mance in the nearby apartment of the well - known L'viv actor Sviatoslav Maksymchuk. Although the Lion Society members were a little nervous pe r-
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