The contrast between the political situation in eastern and western 19th century Ukraine had a real impact on Ukrainian theater. As theater was becoming more popular and the first touring theater was established in eastern Ukraine, western Ukraine saw some of its most severe repression. The Ems ukaze of 1876 completely prohibited Ukrainian theater performance.
"The Ems Ukase prohibited the printing in the Ukrainian language of any original works or translations. Historical documents could be printed in the original orthography, but belles-lettres could appear only in Russian orthography. It also forbade the importation from abroad of Ukrainian-language publications, the staging of plays and public readings in Ukrainian, and the printing of Ukrainian lyrics to musical works. All manuscripts permissible under the new act were subject to approval by the censors before publication."
Extracted from Ems Ukase. in Encyclopedia of Ukraine. .