MINI FORMAT OF A GREAT IDEA

Originally, when Uzeyir Hajibeyov staged his operetta at Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev's theatre in 1913, it was called A Recipe for Happy Marriage. Later in 1916, it was staged in the Russian language at the Mailov brothers' theatre. The plot was so touching and funny, the music so ingenious that the operetta, now under a new title Arshin Mal Alan, has soon become a world hit. It was translated into 80 languages, staged at many theatres with several screen adaptations, the most popular ones well known to Azerbaijani audience made in 1945 (starring Rashid Behbudov) and in 1965. But the original sources on cultural and historical heritage of the great composer indicate that perhaps the first filmed version of Arshin Mal Alan was released in Russia back in 1916 by the Piron brothers (Studio Film) followed by an American version (1937) of an Armenian director, who did not give credit to the author of the operetta, and a Persian version of 1960 made by an Iranian director.

The Russian film shot in St. Petersburg in 1916 and shown on January 3, 1917 at the Forum Cinema in Baku was withdrawn from screening on the following day (despite the sold tickets) based on U. Hajibeyov's complaint about copyright violation, as the film was made without his consent. Nor did Hajibeyov come to terms with another filming company, Khanzhonkov and Co., in 1918. A joint project with the French company Pathé Frères was cancelled due to the Bolshevik revolution.

Hajibeyov has always been confident that A Recipe for Happy Marriage will be a successful artistic venture. This is what he wrote to his friend Huseyngulu Sarabsky from St. Petersburg on July 30, 1913: "Along with my studies, I am writing a new comedy, Arshin Mal Alan. It is going to be an amazing operetta." He was not mistaken. But the author could hardly ever imagined that one day his brainchild would have a completely new original format on the stage of the Baku Marionette Theatre.

Rehearsal and premiere

On September 18, a birthday of the great composer, the theatre had intensive rehearsals preparing to open the next theatrical season. Everyone looked worried including the director of the theatre, the Honoured Art Worker Tarlan Gorchu, and the actors, for they were going to revive the almost forgotten play, Arshin Mal Alan! Almost thirty years ago, it was released on a foreign platform in a completely different (mobile) format. Now the immortal story of all lovers, who have long enjoyed Hajibeyov's recipe in family life, reincarnated in a new interpretation.

At the end of September, the residents and guests of Baku had a chance to watch the premiere of Tarlan Gorchu's version of the operetta to give credit to the creativity and professionalism of actors, artists, and the director.

Unravelling the plot like a Hollywood movie, Uzeyir-bey later brings it to a triumphal conclusion. No matter how inappropriate the following assumption may sound, but Arshin Mal Alan, directed both by Rza Tahmasib and Tofig Taghizadeh and based on Hajibeyov's original score, was the first staged performance (in 1913!) with a happy ending, an artistic style heavily promoted in the American cinema ever since. When the operetta was staged at the Taghiyev theatre, there was no Hollywood as we know it now. The first full-length feature film, The Squaw Man, was made only in 1914. And by 1920, the plot of the Recipe was well known not only in the Russian Empire.

The performance

Right from the beginning, you find yourself in a miniature world full of local flavours scrupulously designed by art directors Elchin Mammadov, Tarlan Gorchu and scenery masters Abas Ali Mustafayev, Elman Mirzayev, and Irma Kaadze. Rich colours of carpet patterns, Asker’s house with ornamental wall paintings, a crystal fountain in the courtyard of Sultan-bey, a talking parrot in a cage, colourful birds flying around lovers, costumes and, of course, the lighting (!), which deserves a separate discussion. Lights can do miracles indeed, same as in Tarlan Gorchu's version of the operetta. He helps adults re-live the warming feeling of a fairy tale, where miracles and good things happen, showing them a world where the characters do not succumb to all the challenges of the plot and earn the happiness in the end. A world each of us is dreaming to live in just by stepping onto the stage, to become a part of Asker's life when he is looking for his beloved one, where simpleminded Telly and Veli are trying to find their own happiness, where Suleyman-bey will believe in miracles after learning that Asya is not Gulchohra chosen by Asker, where Aunt Jahan and Sultan-bey will also find their happiness!

Interestingly, the makeup and facial expressions of characters make them look like the characters of the 1945 screen adaptation.

Each doll has its own character thanks to the puppeteers. Unlike the puppet show Leyli and Majnun, where they play with dolls right in front of the audience, Arshin Mal Alan is different. Actors are behind a screen. We do not see them. Who we can see, however, is lyrical Gulchohra, slaphappy Asya, powerful Aunt Jahan, shrewd servant Telly, and ridiculous but witty Veli. This is not just a great technique and skills of the puppeteers but professionalism! Incidentally, the whole team of puppeteers is composed of male actors, namely Ali Allahverdiyev, Hasan Yagubov, Nazim Huseynov, Hikmet Aydinoglu, Ramiz Aliyev, Rizvan Alesker, and Sabuhi Yagubov.

The script is dubbed in two languages: actors speak in Russian, while professional singers perform the musical parts in Azerbaijani.

A man of theatre

Fariza Babayeva is wearing the garments of the Art Deco era, which was an integral part of fashion in Baku at the beginning of the 20^th century. Not only does her style echoes the overall staging style, but also explicitly, albeit subtly, underlines the individual character of the actress. The director has come up with something special for her role. In fact, it is not a traditional idea for a puppet theatre and a very difficult one to implement. But Tarlan likes experimenting. He united a human being and a doll creating a single object, which he calls the Character, and then he takes the actress to the area between the stage lights and the audience, thus, assigning her the role of a Man of Theatre, sort of an intermediary, interpreter between the actors and the audience.

Her character speaks in Russian, as if putting a historical equality sign between the premieres of 1913 and 1916. This helps the guests of our city and all those who do not speak Azerbaijani not only understand the plot but also to watch the performance through the eyes of its authors. Every now and then, the Man of Theatre adds to the text some light irony mixed feelings of delight and charm, mystery or detachment. One can also see the elements of drama, as the Man of Theatre from the Art Deco era completely fits into the staging style of the performance. His character is charming and provides food to reflect upon Baku of the beginning of the last century. The times of the first oil boom, birth of cinema, numerous theatres, restaurants, and cafes, shipping, construction of new houses, capitalist relations and new discoveries and inventions similar to the recipe of Uzeyir-bey, which he proposed to his contemporaries in Arshin Mal Alan...