But even though one or two visitors may have gone to the show to avoid thinking about the invasion, the war was never very far away.
The audience passed walls with stacked sandbags on the way into the Rococo building from 1810, and the performance began with the national anthem – in front of pictures of swaying wheat plantations – and only a third of the audience seats were allowed to be filled for safety reasons.
– If you hear sirens, go to the shelters. You are the soul of this opera house, and we think it is very important to show after 115 days of silence that we can make an appearance, says Ilona Tratj, who presented the program, according to The New York Times.
In May, the opera house in the capital Kyiv reopened its doors.