THE MUTRUF EXPERIMENT

On March 10, the Theatre Workers' Union celebrated the National Theatre Day by staging Предложение (The Proposal), a new performance in Azerbaijani by an aspiring director Abdulla Elshadli. This one-act farce was written by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov in 1888 and has since enjoyed the continued success of both beginning and veteran directors.

Secret of success

It is not only about the final line by Chubukov: “Well, that's a way to start your family bliss!”, but also in the wonderful rendition of characters. There are only three of them: landowner Stepan Stepanovich Chubukov, his daughter Natalia Stepanovna Chubukova and their neighbour—landowner Ivan Vasilievich Lomov. Lomov comes to the Chubukovs' estate to propose to Natalia Stepanovna. But before this ever happens we see two episodes of quarrel between the characters: first, over a plot of land called Volovya Luzhki, and then over hunting dogs—Ugadai owned by Lomov, and Otkatai owned by the Chubukovs. Abdulla Elshadli is a director, who also plays the character of Lomov and has translated the play into Azerbaijani. He  has his own view of the circumstances proposed by Chekhov. His Lomov fits the description of the original Chekhovian character: an emotionally unstable neurotic. Yet in the director’s interpretation of Natalia Stepanovna’s (Narmina Khankishiyeva) character, we can see an emancipated businesswoman of the 21st century. A physically strong woman, who is no stranger to beating you up, if necessary. Even her own husband. She is dressed as a woman of our century—trousers, T-shirt, baseball cap and... one-time gloves to keep her manicure intact! She is definitely not a stay-at-home type of a girl. Housekeeping is taken care of by her father Stepan Stepanovich (Gasim Naghi, Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan), who, as understood by the director, can do knitting, cooking and even washing easily. He has been doing it for many years because his daughter does not seem to help him at all. She has no time for that. She lives with hope to meet the one she’ll love, the one with his own interests. That’s why she immediately and readily transforms as soon as she knows that Lomov visited them to make a marriage proposal. Now we can see her wearing a dress instead of trousers and shoes instead of snickers—she’s ready to accept the proposal! However, the external transformation has not affected her inner self: she remains the same tough, pragmatic, shrewd and soulless woman...

That's a directorial touch of Elshadli...

This is how director Abdulla Elshadli sees the Chekhov world in modern rhythms and accents. But what was so original about this short farce, which has very little to do with Chekhov's version, that the director and his team introduced into the play after changing its name to Our Proposals? We should give credit to the authors of new performance directed and designed by Abdulla Elshadli and artists Jeyhun Dadashev and Asiman Agha Rovshan. When Natalya Stepanovna realizes that her fiancé, frightened by her expansiveness, may leave for good, mutrufs (national scenic masks) notify the audience about the beginning of director’s free interpretation of the play.

Director and mutrufs

We are not going to review the director's version of introduction of national masks as an original retouch. Over the thirty years, they have transformed from simple street performances to various theatrical stages of the country. So let us consider this particular case as an attempt not only to translate a play of the Russian classic into contemporary Azerbaijani language, but also to combine two theatrical aesthetics in a single performance.

What was the idea of introducing three masks (Eltekin Khan, Ulvi Hashim, Gudrat Fatulla) and their leader (Tural Gara)? Obviously, their characters will not only drive the action, but also, as traditional masks, manipulate the characters as puppets. This could be a truly creative and professional approach. But this did not happen. Director only limited himself to declaring in the prologue of the play the mutrufs as acting characters and making them introduce all the Chekhovian characters by name. That’s it! Then he left them to do few functions such as peeping, eavesdropping, carrying away and bringing back furniture or props. There is no point in speculating about how this trick would have improved the production, had the director used it not in a flimsy manner but to the full extent by perusing the masks’ semantic meaning. It seems the idea was to present to the audience an idea of using national theatrical masks without their practical application. Alas, the intended functional duties of each of the mutrufs remain beyond the scope of the original idea. Because the combination of Chekhov's characters, whose lives the playwright describes through a prism of mundane psychological truth, with the actions of colourful masked characters could be interesting as a theatrical experiment. Anyway… But we hope that director’s trick did not simply mean a combination of the principles of the Russian psychological school of theatre and the national traditions of street theatrical performance. It will develop further forming a space of professional and experimental interest.

National Theatre Day

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture initiated and implemented a project entitled Theatre Everywhere on the occasion of the National Theatre Day. Part of the theatrical event took place at the Icherisheher underground station, including scenes from Dedication to Paris Notre Dame and Arshin Mal Alan, as well as sketches performed by students of the State University of Culture and Arts.

The event continued at the Ganjlik Mall.

Why on March 10? Because on this day in 1873, the students of Realschule in Baku staged Azerbaijan's first play based on the eponymous comedy by Azerbaijani writer and intellectual Mirza Fatali Akhundzade—Vizier of the Lenkoran Khanate. The production was initiated by Hasan-bey Zardabi and Najaf-bey Vezirov. As a tribute to this significant date, on March 1, 2013, President Ilham Aliyev signed an order which marked March 10 as the National Theatre Day in Azerbaijan.

Since 1873, the number of Azerbaijani theatrical companies and productions began to grow, which required a special building for this purpose. A significant contribution to the development of the national theatre was made by philanthropist Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, who funded the construction of the first ever theatre in Baku. The solemn opening ceremony of the building later dubbed the Taghiyev Theatre took place on November 27, 1883.

The Azerbaijani theatrical stage has since seen a whole cast of brilliant actors, including Huseyngulu Sarabski, Huseyn Arablinski, Ulvi Rajab, Abbas Mirza Sharifzade, Mirzagha Aliyev, Mustafa Mardanov, Alesker Alekberov, Leyla Badirbayli, Hokuma Gurbanova, Lutfali Abdullayev, Nasiba Zeynalova, Hajibaba Baghirov and dozens of other outstanding representatives of Azerbaijani theatre.

In 2006, a law on theatre and theatrical activity was adopted in Azerbaijan. In 2007, President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on the development of Azerbaijani theatrical art. On May 18, 2009, the president approved the State Programme on the Azerbaijani Theatre in 2009-2019.

There are 26 state theatres and a number of private theatres and theatrical studios in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani masters of theatre have performed in more than 30 countries.