Friedrich Schiller’s “The Robbers”: evolution of stage interpretations in Germany and Ukraine in the XX century

The purpose of the article to conduct a comparative retrospective analysis of typical features of the stage interpretation of “The Robbers” in the German and Ukrainian theatre history in the XX century. The methodology. The research toolkit includes the following methods: the biographical one as a way to determine the evolution of Schiller’s views on the theatre and the aesthetic foundations of art in general through his own creativity and theoretical views; the historical one as a means of attracting to the analysis known facts and new searches in the history of theatre. The comparative method allowed for a comparative analysis of typical phenomena in the development of the national cultural heritage of different eras and the sociological method to clarify the corresponding principles of analysis of works of Soviet art from the point of view of their social affiliation and ideological orientation. The results. The interpretation of “The Robbers” included significant features of revolutionary upsurge, appreciated by the supporters of the French Revolution (Bourgeois Revolution), but proved insufficient for the representatives of the proletarian restructuring of German society at the beginning of the XX century (Erwin Piscator). Bertold Brecht used Schiller’s aesthetic categories in relation to the epic theatre, and Panas Saksahanskyi tried to expand the range of boulevard theatre according to the European type. The scientific novelty of the research topic lies in an extensive retrospective coverage of historical sources that has not yet been observed in the academic literature.