Deeply impressed by a melodrama he saw in Kiev Theatre, he wrote the play "Mykyta Starostenko, or You do know when disaster will awake" (Ukrainian: Микита Старостенко, або Незчуєшся, як лихо спобіжить).

In his government service, Kropyvnytskyi was rarely promoted, and often completely lost his earnings, due to his devotion for art and amateur performances.

In 1872 the Odessa newspaper "Novorossiysk Telegraph" published two musical comedies by Kropyvnytskyi: Reconciled and God will protect an orphan, or Unexpected Proposal.

In his early days, Kropyvnytskyi wrote mainly comedy pieces: Reconciled (1869), God will protect an orphan, or Unexpected Proposal (1871), Actor Sinitsa (1871), A revision (1882), Mustache (1885) and others.

Even in his later years, forced by worsening health to settle in a farm House, Kropyvnytskyi often travelled to participate in theatre performances, he continued writing plays.

About Kropyvnytskyi, Maksym Rylsky wrote the following, "Let's lower our foreheads: a genius was here, for people he worked and was tormented, so that the people would be treated just, so that the land would be green in garden's bloom" (Ukrainian: Схилим чоло: тут віяв геній, Народу син творив тут і страждав, Щоб для народу домогтися прав, Щоб на землі сади цвіли зелені...).