From October 3 to 12, 2025, an international event will take place on the stage of the Mykolaiv Academic Art Drama Theater – the XIV Open Theater Festival “Homo Ludens” (“The Man Who Plays”). Student-mentees of the Faculty of Philology and student-mentees of the specialty “Journalism” of the Faculty of Political Sciences of the Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University were invited and became active participants in the alternative student jury of the festival within the framework of the implementation of the EU Erasmus+ project 101082696 – PROMENT “Promoting professional education and active participation of students through the formation of a comprehensive system of mentoring and tutoring in higher education institutions” under the scheme “Mentoring of young teachers”.

The organizer and moderator of the series of events was the mentor of the PROMENT project – a public speaking trainer, teacher of stage disciplines, actress, Honored Artist of Ukraine, Maryna Vasilyeva.

The coordinator of the mentoring scheme “Mentoring of Young Teachers” from Petro Mohyla National University of Kyiv was Halyna Kosareva, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the Department of Ukrainian Philology and Intercultural Communication within the framework of the PROMENT project.

The festival has a long history: it was launched in 2006 by the International Black Sea Club on the basis of the Mykolaiv Academic Art Drama Theater. The idea of ​​the festival is inspired by the work of the same name by the Dutch thinker Johan Geisinga, who argued that play is one of the main essential characteristics of human nature. It is this philosophy that formed the basis of the artistic concept of the event, which combines different theater schools, styles and creative searches.

Over the years, Homo Ludens has become an important platform for artists from different countries to meet, exchange experiences, and develop contemporary theater. Despite the challenges of the pandemic and war, the festival has continued to exist, expanding its formats, adding online screenings and performances on the stages of participating theaters.

This year’s program is extremely rich: 40 theaters of Ukraine and 6 participating countries – including Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania. Spectators will have the opportunity to see performances by theaters from Kyiv, Kherson, Poltava, Kropyvnytskyi, Sumy, Kryvyi Rih and other cities.

For more comfortable participation of the groups, the formats “show on your own stage” and “online” have been added. The artistic director of the festival is the director – artistic director of the Mykolaiv Academic Art Drama Theater Artem Svystun, Honored Artist of Ukraine.

This is a true theatrical celebration that unites artists and audiences around the idea of ​​a lively artistic dialogue.

Student mentees from the Faculty of Philology joined as members of the alternative student jury of the city’s leading universities. During the festival, they actively attended performances; there was a lively discussion of the poetics of the participating plays. The student community also participated in interactive master classes on the basics of theater art, as well as theater blogging. This allowed them to expand the “horizon of reading” through intermedia dimensions in the interaction of literature and theater. Student participants of the PROMENT project actively shared their impressions and feedback from the festival events on social networks, contributing to the popularization of the theater life of Mykolaiv.

For student mentees, participation in the festival is not only an introduction to leading theater artists from Ukraine and Europe, but also an opportunity to develop analytical thinking, media literacy, the ability to work on theater reviews, as well as the specifics of artistic texts for social networks. This is a path to a deeper understanding of theater as a social and cultural phenomenon.

For the team of mentees, participation in the Homo Ludens festival was an important stage in their professional development and creative growth. They gained invaluable experience in watching performances by theater groups in Ukraine and Europe, participating in discussions, and critically analyzing stage art. Thanks to the support of Ms. Marina Vasilyeva, the philologists felt confident in their abilities, learned to formulate their own feedback, discuss, and work as a single team. The atmosphere of cooperation created by the mentor helped them to reveal their potential and gain a deeper understanding of theater as a platform for inter-artistic and intercultural dialogues.

During the festival awards ceremony held on October 12, 2025, the results of their discussion as an alternative expert council were announced – a moment that testified to the seriousness of their work and recognition of their contribution to the festival process. It should be noted that the student mentees as participants of the alternative expert council were presented with certificates of appreciation for their active participation in the Homo Ludens festival.

On behalf of the student community of Petro Mohyla National University of Kyiv, the coordinators of the international project from Erasmus+Proment, we express our sincere gratitude to our mentor under the “Mentoring of Young Teachers” scheme, Maryna Vasilyeva, for organizing such a large-scale festival, for creating an atmosphere of creative dialogue through performances and master classes attended by students, as well as expanding the reading and theatrical horizons of philologists.

Theater is a powerful force that creates important meanings, even in the most difficult times of war. It is a space of invincibility and unshakable faith in our victory!

We sincerely thank you!

It should be noted that mentors’ activities with student mentees will continue within the second phase of the PROMENT project and will become an important component on the path to their personal and professional growth.

The materials were prepared by a student-mentee of the Faculty of Philology of group 343, Taran Sofia , and the coordinator of the scheme “Mentoring of Young Teachers” Halyna Kosareva, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the Department of Ukrainian Philology and Intercultural Communication within the framework of the PROMENT project .