Organized by the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, the national competition for the best theater production based on the books by the President of Turkmenistan also features a historic drama ‘The Legend of Archman’.
Theater festival participants and visitors had a chance to watch the new play, staged by the Kemine Mary Velayat State Drama Theater, via live video transmission.
Playwright Amanmyrat Allakov, who was born in Archman and is now working as a doctor at a health resort in Bayramali, drew his inspiration from President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s book “Turkmenistan – the Land of Healing”. The book includes the legend about Archman’s healing water.
… The central character of the drama is Archman, a young healer who uses medicinal herbs growing in the desert, mountains and valleys to make healing balms. He considers it his duty to help and treat not only his fellow villagers but to lend a hand to anyone who needs it.
Once the healer meets a beautiful girl named Sakhra and falls in love with her. He openly declares his love for her. Chaman, a rich man from their village, wants to marry Sakhra, too. When the young woman chooses the healer, the jealous rival asks an old woman called Zulman for a potion and then pours it on Archman. The potion causes sores on the young man’s face and body. Fearing that they are contagious and can spread to his fellow villagers, Archman spends several years living alone in the mountains and trying to find the remedy.
An old man helps Archman. He takes the young man to a cave with the healing spring. After taking a dip in the spring, all his sores heal. Archman returns to his native village and marries Sakhra.
After the play, Merdan Akmamedov, a main scenic designer at the Theater, told the Golden Age correspondent that the production had been staged in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s independence. The scenic designer also shared that new productions will be added to the Theater’s repertoire this year. One of them is a children’s play based on Agageldy Allanazarov’s tale ‘The Sweet Vakharman Melon’.
Roman TEPLYAKOV
Photo: Suleyman CHARYEV
