Obsession with 'Othello'. The author of poems accused of harassing military personnel provoked a new scandal.

On September 14, the premiere of the play 'Othello' took place at the Kyiv Academic Drama and Comedy Theater on the left bank of the Dnipro River. However, social media users criticized the theater for adding the poems of poetess Olena Zyateva to the play. In particular, she was accused of harassing military personnel and promoting Russian narratives through her poetry.

After this scandal, Olena Zyateva made a statement. The poetess noted that she is terminating the agreement with the Theatre on the Left Bank regarding the public use of her poems in the play 'Othello'. According to her, Ukrainians will no longer hear her texts in the theater.

'Everyone who managed to attend Othello at the Drama and Comedy Theater on the left bank of the Dnipro River featuring my texts (and as far as I know, there were many) - good job, and everyone who didn't - also well done, the only thing, with a note - you will not be able to hear my texts in the play ever again,' the poetess noted.

Olena Zyateva accuses the theater actor Oleg Stefan of saying about her: 'not a simple person'. 'The play featuring my texts continued - to go, collect full houses and applause, from which it can be understood - that the theater did not intend to remove my texts from the play. And while I kept silent, eventually the theater did everything possible and impossible - to distance itself from me, and even worse: by distancing and with one hand - starching its white coat, and with the other - pouring dirt on me, giving, without my prior consent (not to mention the promised - absence of public comments) interviews, and God with it, only about the play, but no, commenting on me, 'conflict' and the theater's relations with me,' the statement read.

However, as Zyateva points out, this situation did not influence her final decision. The poetess notes that on October 6, she watched the play and then decided to withdraw the texts from the performance: 'On October 6, I watched the performance, then, actually, the final decision was made that these texts - should perish in this performance.'

It should be recalled that on September 14, the premiere of the play 'Othello' directed by Oksana Dmitrieva took place at the Kyiv Academic Drama and Comedy Theater on the left bank of the Dnipro River. The novelty immediately sparked a scandal on social media. 'Glavkom' analyzed why the theater and the creators of the play are being criticized.

In the poetess's verses, according to critics, such theses can be found: 'military personnel, you will have to adapt to civilians,' 'you can see that you are sick,' 'stop telling us that everyone will go to war, I personally will hide behind the fence.'

The director of the film 'Me and Felix', Irina Tsylik, wrote about Zyateva: 'I do not know the reason for her black malice towards many military personnel, but I have long observed various strange stories. First, Yelena donated to the fundraising of my husband, and then suddenly wrote a nasty post about him and poured dirt on him.'

Journalist Natalia Buchkovska also reacted to Zyateva's poetry. 'In the verses, if they can be called that, and in the posts, complete contempt and discredit of the military are somehow wrapped up. And also towards the country: run away, we are doomed here. But beautifully and with a claim to genius. In general, Russian narratives just run along this profile in a brown thread,' Buchkovska comments on Zyateva's poetry.

Also, in April of this year, 'Glavkom' attended the first show of the play 'Othello' directed by David Petrosyan at the National Academic Drama Theater named after Lesya Ukrainka. The premiere was not without embarrassments but ended in triumph.

Earlier, Kyiv Academic Drama Theater on Podil got involved in a scandal. It was provoked by replacing the last name of Zelensky's economist with Zalusky in the play 'Host' directed by Ivan Uryvsky.