IMPROVISATION OF THE THEATRE

What do we mean by the theatrical history of Azerbaijan? Strictly speaking, as in other cultures, the theatre in Azerbaijan emerged on the basis of dances, games and religious and festive customs. The playful songs "kapanak" and "banovsa" already existed in the 19th century. Ethnic traditions such as the organization of weddings and engagement parties and customs linked with the Novruz celebrations were conducive to the development of the Azerbaijani theatre. The male dance, the "yalli", also played a significant role in the formation of the Azerbaijani theatre.

By the beginning of the 19th century a number of small theatrical productions had already existed, such as "Kosa-Kosa", "Qaravalli", "Shah Salim", "Kecal pahlavan", "Ceyran xanim", "Maral oyunu", "Kaftarkos", "Xan-xan", "Tapdiq Coban" and "Tanbal Qardas". A more ancient and traditional form of theatre, which was widespread in the Turkic world, was "Kirim-arasi". These were puppet shows which were produced at the markets by actors hidden behind a carpet. The special features of such presentations, which became widespread not only in Azerbaijan but also in Europe, were their relevance and their topicality. The actors were invisible behind the carpet screen, but if a compassionate custodian of the law arrived in the market it was always easy to lose oneself.

Apart from everything else there was also the religious diversity of the so-called "proto-theatre". This was a kind of passion play known as the "Sabih" ritual, usually held in the month of Muharram. And along with this there was the ancient tragic genre of "yug". And all this was merely the basis for the emergence of the theatre as we understand it today, or a kind of cultural precursor of it.

But the ethnic theatre had other origins, too. In 1832 in Ganca, Mirza Fatali Axundov, the young son of a mullah, enrolled at a medreseh. And a year before that Mirza Safi Vazeh arrived at the same medreseh in Ganca to teach. Who knows what our theatre would have been like if these two people had not been destined to meet. Axundov later recalled how the teacher "put him through his paces". The young man had a very critical attitude towards religion and its dogmas and was keen to acquire new "alternative" forms of knowledge. The teacher understood this and started to ply the young but promising pupil with books about European literature and drama. At that time Vazeh already had immense experience of meeting European intellectuals and spoke several languages. He talked Axundov out of the idea of following in his father's footsteps and suggested that he concentrated on literature.

Basically about the date…

Hasanbay Zardabi, a former student of Moscow University and a teacher of a non-classical secondary school, and Nacaf bay Vazirov, a student of the same school and an amateur actor, decided one day to organize the first professional production of an Azerbaijani play. This was on 10 March 1873 on the stage of the Baku Public Assembly. The actors were students of the school, and the production was Axundov's celebrated play "The Vazir of the Lankaran Khanate". Within less than a month another of Axundov's works - "Haci Qara" - was shown on the same stage. It is impossible not to note Zardabi's role in the development of the Azerbaijani theatre. This man, a mathematician by profession, was virtually the pioneer not just of national journalism but also the theatre. An educated man with an encyclopaedic knowledge, he was a kind of bearer of advanced humanitarian thought in Azerbaijan. So it is not surprising that as soon as Zardabi switched to other things (he founded the "Akinci" newspaper), and the future playwright Vazirov set off for Russia to study, that theatrical life in Baku, which had scarcely got off the ground, began to subside.

Everything started to come to life, as often happened throughout our history, in Susa, the cradle of Azerbaijani culture. A non-classical secondary school was opened in the town in 1881. And already from 1882, during the summer holidays, teachers and students began to organize amateur productions. They put on Shakespeare, the European classicists and, of course, Axundov. In the 1890s the growth in popularity of theatres led to the emergence of new names in ethnic drama. One of these was Hasim bay Vazirov, a teacher at the same school. In 1892 his play "Marrying - not slaking the thirst" was staged along with Axundov.

Conservative circles were not happy about the growth in popularity of the theatres. Religiously minded young people broke into the hall and disrupted one of the first performances of this play and the actors were forced to leave the premises by the back door. Many of the clergy at that time saw literature and the theatre as an exercise not worthy of churchgoing folk. By the end of the 19th century several plays, mainly the works of European writers or comedies by local people, were staged in Baku and Susa. The production of Abdurrahim bay Haqverdiyev's drama "The Destroyed Nest" in 1896 was a special event.

The golden age of the national theatre really came at the beginning of the 20th century and continued right up to the start of the 1930s. That was when a whole host of new names emerged, including Huseyn Arablinskiy, Suleyman Axundov, Calil Mammadquluzada, Muslim Maqomayev (senior) and Uzeyir Hacibayov.

The theatre behind the iron wall

Having sealed its authority, the Soviet Union did not restrict itself to the politics and economy of the new empire and set itself the task of completely taking over the minds of the people. The Azerbaijani State Theatre was created in 1919, and at the beginning of the 1920s the republic's theatres had been nationalized. The next step was the strict censorship of stage productions, as well as a "purge" among actors. Those who were the most disloyal were sacked and the rest - the directors and actors who showed the most loyalty - were appointed to party posts among the "establishment". The Russian satirical propaganda theatre, later to be renamed the Baku Workers Theatre, was founded in Baku in 1920. A year later the Bolsheviks created the Azerbaijani Satirical Theatre, also later renamed the Baku Azerbaijani Workers and Peasants Theatre. The names of the theatres spoke for themselves. The most terrible events happened later. 

In 1934, at the initiative of Genrikh Yagoda, at the time the USSR people's commissar for internal affairs, under the specious pretext of improving the state of culture, numerous creative unions were set up, including the Union of Writers and, later, the Union of Theatrical Figures. At the same time, all amateur and independent theatres were banned. Amateur theatres within enterprises could not be described as independent because they were small and depended on departmental organizations and were also strictly controlled.

The period from the beginning of the 1930s to the end of the 1950s was virtually a dead-end one for all Soviet culture, including Azerbaijani. When the repressions began most members of the ethnic intelligentsia had died and others started to emigrate in search of rescue and to continue their literary activities as a last resort from the situation. Many of our compatriots, who had been in captivity during the war against German fascism, were deprived of the opportunity to return home and had to find refuge abroad. The situation in Azerbaijan, as throughout the union, only changed in the 1960s of the thaw.

The coil spring of the "sixties"

As in other parts of the great country called the USSR, in Azerbaijan the brief intake of freedom after decades of fear led to a new phenomenon in culture known as the "sixties". Those years in the Azerbaijani theatre were known for the huge number of productions. From the end of the 1950s such now recognized masterpieces as "Cavansir" and "The Flame" by Mehti Huseyn, "Alikum Gets Married" and "The Lie" by S. Rahman, "Ilyich Bay" and "The Trends of Love" by C. Macnunbayov, "Behind Closed Doors" by G. Seidbayli, and others were put on.  

Many new names emerged. The C.Cabbarli Theatre in Ganca also began to develop strongly at that time. Plays by the classic writers of ethnic drama, such as M.F. Axundov, N.B. Vazirov, C. Mammadquluza-da, A. Axverdiyev, C. Cabbarli, Samad Vurgun, M. Ibrahimov, S. Rustam and I. Afandiyev, had already been staged. But what was special was that these productions contained much re-thinking and artistic innovation, which could not be said of the theatres from the 1930s to the 1950s.

The plays of the young dramatists C. Macnunbayov, I. Safarli and B. Vahabzada were also staged in Ganca. Besides this, plays from other languages began to be translated at their own discretion (unheard of at that time) in the theatre. These were G. Figueiredo's "Aesop", Aziz Nesin's "Come Here", Lope de Vega's "The Artful Lover", A. Sirvanzada's "Evil Spirit" and B. Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera".

In the 1960s the Naxcivan Theatre, which one would have thought to be more provincial, focused particular attention on a new reading of the Azerbaijani classics and the manifestation of contemporary drama. The N.B. Vazirov Theatre in Lankaran, the G. Arablinskiy Theatre in Sumqayit, the S. Rahman Theatre in Saki and others were a success.

The 1970s and 1980s were marked by such events in theatrical life as the plays "Xayyam" by H. Cavid and "The Song Stayed in the Mountains" by I. Afandiyev. A number of young directors emerged, successfully staging such plays as "The Masters" by R. Stoyanov (director F. Sultanov), "Wake me and Sing" by M. Darfos (F. Haciyev), "The Nameless Star" by Sebastian (H. Abluc) and "Don't Worry, Mama" by N. Dumbadze (A. Kazimov).

The older generation of directors were brilliant interpreters of the classics and contemporary drama. "Madame Minister" by B. Nushich, "Don Juan" by Moliere, "The Tempest" by Shakespeare (director T. Kazimov) "Love and Intrigue" by Schiller, "Khanuma" by A. Tsagareli, "The Legend of Love" by Nazim Hikmet (director A. Sarifov) and others played a big part in educating the younger generation of theatre actors. The appearance of names of young playwrights on theatre posters was a pleasing factor.

Today

Today, there are 15 theatres operating in Baku and in Azerbaijan as a whole there are over 30. Every year the theatre seasons traditionally open in the capital on 15 September and end in May. In addition, there are a number of amateur theatrical groups, and sometimes several theatres perform on the same stage with their own directors, actors, concept and presentation, as befits a real theatre.

Azerbaijani theatres travel on tours abroad to Norway, Germany, Russia, Great Britain and even across the ocean. In addition, foreign experts - from cinema directors to light electricians - visit Baku's theatres today to exchange experience and to work.

And today, almost 150 years later, one can speak about the characteristic feature of the Azerbaijani national theatre. Whereas the aforementioned old teacher Vazeh was once the bridge between East and West in the development of Azerbaijani creative thought, today it is the Azerbaijani theatre that has become that bridge.