EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE

The non-profit organization YARAT (creativity) copes very well with one of its many functions: education. The name itself is quite justified, as a team of young employees has developed a number of programmes related to education and awareness. The ARTIM (growth) programme supports the initiatives of young artists, actors, directors and even producers. An example of this is a creative experiment by Sanan Aliyev, who heads a London theatrical enterprise called Aloff Theatre.

Aloff Theatre

If you translate the name into English, you will get a "Theatre of Fire". It is the producer's tribute of love for his hometown and culture. The performances that have been staged in his theatre are based on works of Azerbaijani authors. They were staged and shown to British audiences not only in London. Producer Sanan's love for his roots led to the popularization of Azerbaijani art outside our country. So, there appeared performances such as "My favourite crazy man" (Elcin), "You are always with me" (Ilyas Afandiyev), as well as a play written by an English author based on the Azerbaijani folk tale "Malik Mammad". Sanan is now working on a new project. It will be a musical based on Elcin's play "Tenants of Hell". Music to it is being written by an English composer. The theatre will come to Azerbaijan with this performance in September to take part in the Second International Theatre Festival in Saki. And in October, it will travel to Tbilisi to participate in the GIFT International Festival of Theatres. In parallel, work is continuing on a performance that will narrate the tragedy of Xocali. This performance will be staged in the style of a verbatim theatre (documentary theatre) to be shown around the world. This is a kind of theatrical performance, which won some popularity at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries. Performances of the verbatim theatre entirely consist of real monologues or dialogues between ordinary people pronounced by actors.

It is also planned to work on Nizami's poem "The Seven Beauties". Staging of this work is planned in a huge abandoned room, where the history of each of the seven beauties will be played under a separate dome. This is an unconventional approach to the production and development of a new space for the actors and the audience, which is very popular now not only in Europe but also in Russia and many former Soviet republics. This is a form of the so-called quest, which means an adventure game in English.

If you just ask about the history of the development of theatrical art in the past twentieth century, you can easily find evidence that this form of working with drama and attempts to include in it parameters that differ from the box stage parameters have long been tested. Recall the directing experiments of Max Reinhardt, who, changing space, staged Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" 12 times. The 12th time was in the park of his castle on the eve of the Second World War. However, the form did not take root, and experimenter directors went back to the space of the Aristotelian box stage.

About Sanan

It's hard to say at what point in his life the first realization of violent love for the theatre came. He lived and studied like many children in Baku: in high school and then at the Diplomatic Academy of London. And in the period of study he even translated Axundov's play "Monsieur Jordan, a botanist scientist, and Dervish Mastalisah, a famous magician" into English. And then he staged it with students! Perhaps, it was at this point that he realized the need to link his future life with theatre. So, having mastered the art of diplomatic sciences theoretically, Sanan Aliyev plunged into the world of theatre dreams about the reality. Not an easy kind of temptation, quite frankly! But Sanan had already embarked on this path. And as they say, slow and steady wins the race.

"A Toy's House"

The project "A Doll's House" based on a play by Henrik Ibsen was shown in Baku. In our diverse 21st century, the theme of domestic violence against women is relevant to the world as never before. That's why the producer chose Ibsen's play, which UNESCO included on the Memory of the World list in 2001. However, the participants in this experiment - both the producer and members of the production team - came to the conclusion that the name should sound a little differently: "A Toy's House" or "A House of Toys", which reflects the essence of what is happening more accurately. And everything that happens with the characters of the story, according to the will of the producer, is transferred to Baku in 1927. Why was this time chosen? Because it is the time of the active entry of Azerbaijani women into the structure of social life. Stereotypes of the old days, when a woman had the right only to the role of a wife and mother, were broken. But the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic first and then the Soviet government, granting equal rights to men and women, forcibly gave everyone the right to education and professional development. There appeared the first women doctors, teachers, artist, sculptors, engineers, pilots and tractor drivers. However, not all men agree with the new order. And even those who held high government positions did not differ with their modern views.

Sanan believes that the theme of women's dependence on male despotism is still relevant for us. Therefore, in the version adapted to Azerbaijan, lawyer Torvald becomes Turkan Huseynov (Amid Qasimov), Nora - Nurana Huseynova (Konul Cafarzada), Mrs Linde - Xalisa Isgandarova (Natavan Qeybani), Dr Rank - Dr Rustamov (Elgun Hamidov) and Krogstad - Nihal Karimov (Oqtay Mehdiyev). The other characters are eliminated as unnecessary. And indeed, why would a party functionary like Turkan, for example, need a housekeeper? The Soviet man is not entitled to it!

Parallels

Ibsen's Nora is a meek, timid creature, who is trying to find herself outside a doll's house (her husband's house) where everything was like in the children's game of dolls. But she perceived this game as a reality for too long. In the staged version directed by Matthew Zach Panesh from England - Nurana (the prototype of Nora) is not so meek and timid. And she does not look like a woman who has just taken off her veil! She has a strong-willed character. She knows what she wants from life. And it is not men who manage her - she herself manages them as puppets. And such Nurana-Nora is afraid of nobody and nothing. Moreover, Nurana resembles a modern woman with a pragmatic view of life, a desire to strengthen the material side of her life, etc. It is for this reason that the adapted story does not fit into the semantic name "A Toy's House" or "A House of Toys". Nurana-Nora is not a toy at all. And her house is not for a doll. And certainly, it is not a toy house!

But if the given circumstances of this story take place in Baku in 1927, then at the very least, the director should have inquired about the customs and communal culture of Azerbaijanis in the Soviet period. And they do not look European at all. On orders from above you cannot cancel the genetic memory or traditions that evolved over the centuries. Therefore, you will not sit on the table, from which you take your bread, like in a chair. And neither men nor women, especially in the presence of strangers, will walk around the house barefoot! Nor will they behave like 21st century people.

Had the director shown a little interest looking into the not so distant past of our city, there would not be such imprecision in the interpretation of the plot and relationships between the characters. Not to mention their temper!