The capital’s theaters are now preparing for a new long-anticipated season, putting the finishing touches to their theatrical premiers. Together with our photojournalist we have attended several rehearsals and would like to share our impressions with our readers.

The Magic Chest or How to Marry the Loved One 

The Main Drama Theater is working on a new production of ‘The Magic Chest’ based on Klychmurad Kakabaev’s play. Stage director Eziz Ishankuliev added new original ideas to the well-known stage work, the Theater’s repertoire included more than ten years ago. And now the compelling story feels like a remake.

… Begdogdy, a young man, who has found a purse with one thousand gold coins inside, comes to the bazar. He learns there that a rich merchant selling a chest has a daughter, who is quite a beauty. Bekdogdy gets into the merchant’s house to see Kishte. The young people fall in love and later make up a cunning plan to trick the young woman’s father. Kishte advises her father to prepare a document that will help him to sell his chest finally. It reads: ‘Whoever buys the chest, will own what is inside and what is outside.’ It is easy to guess who has bought the chest and whom he has found inside. The merchant is deeply shocked! He does not give up easily and goes to the judge to call off the deal.

All the characters find themselves plunging into a vortex of amusing and unpredictable incidents…

Perkhat Babaev plays the lead role of Bekdogdy. Shemshat Kasymova and Dilshat Melyaeva perform the roles of Kishte and exalted Hopnyshan respectively.

A rich choreographic palette is the perfect complement to the ridiculous situations unfolding on stage. According to stage director Eziz Ishankuliev, the production has lived up to all his expectations and the cast and crew deserve special praise for their efforts and teamwork.

Too Much for One Day 

Fifth-year students of the Turkmen State Institute of Culture (the Department of Theater and Film) are rehearsing at the Mollanepes Students’ Theater for a stage adaptation of ‘Too Much for One Day’ based on French playwright Claude Magnier’s play ‘Three Suitcases, “Ting-a-Ling” or A Noble Family’s Crazy Day’ directed by Aymamed Ishankuliev.

In the best traditions of classical French comedy, the story brought to life onstage revolves around the protagonist, eccentric Bertrand Barnier, who is caught up in a tangle of unbelievable incidents and confusions. But the story ends well for all its characters.

Those who attended a run-through found the witty and edifying play very appealing.

- This is the first time Claude Magnier’s play ‘Three Suitcases, “Ting-a-Ling” or A Noble Family’s Crazy Day’ has been staged in our country, Aymamed Ishankuliev said. I was enthralled with the dynamic and expressive narration at once. The play features five female and four male roles and we have just as many fifth-year students.

Observant viewers may have noticed that the characters are dressed in clothes characteristic of different periods. Bertrand Barnier’s illegitimate daughter and her mother wear vintage clothing that was in vogue in the 1930s-1940s when the play was written. The illegitimate daughter’s fiancé is in jeans, and Bertrand himself is outfitted in modern clothes. This stylistically creative idea is seen allegorically as the fusion of different epochs.

I am delighted with the acting skills of all the students, especially the performance of Kemal Annaev as Bertrand.

A Tale of Friendship or Important Things Explained in a Simple Way 

The Turkmen Puppet Theater is putting on a new children’s performance entitled ‘The City Tale’ directed by Ilyas Durdyev. Playwright, People’s Writer of Turkmenistan Govshutgeldy Danatarov has written the play with due consideration to modern children’s intellectual development. Its characters are not those from traditional folk tales, but … numerals that come to life. They have their individual personalities and rather difficult relations with each other.

When asked how the idea for the non-trivial story emerged, Govshutgeldy Danatarov said:

- Once flipping through my grandson’s textbook I came across a humorous poem about zero. The approximate translation of the poem into Russian reads:

My name is Zero.
When I am with friends, I am mighty,
Without them,
I am nothing.

These four lines struck me with their simple but rather deep philosophical ideas. And I started to visualize the numerals, trying to identify their distinctive characteristics: one – a front runner, two – mischievous, three – something neutral, four – a good number, five – the best, etc.

Shortly afterwards, the story’s main character, a schoolboy named Nury, came into existence. The boy mistakenly supposes that zero is nothing and that is why it is of no use. As a result, he cannot compose the number ten and gets a bad mark at school. When Nury comes home after school, he is upset and does not feel like doing his homework. He takes a nap instead and has a dream. And the rest of the story revolves around his dream…

- Working on the play, we faced the difficulty of selecting voices for the puppets, Ilyas Durdyev said in an interview. We had to lend voices to the ten inanimate numerals and to bring out their personalities.

Since every number recites a four-line poem introducing itself, music director Serdar Ovezov came up with an idea of putting these plain rhyming verses to music.

Production designer Oraz Hajimuradov has brilliantly succeeded in designing the puppet used to portray Nury. Oraz had drawn a great many sketches before he created the image that everyone at the theater was delighted with: the charming little boy with that mischievous look in his big eyes. Nury and his Grandma are rod puppets, and the ten numerals are glove puppets.

As one would expect, ‘The City Tale’ has a happy ending. After watching the production, every child will come to realize that friendships can work miracles…

Tamara GLAZUNOVA
Photo: Yuri SHKURIN