The chroniclers of our reality, this is how you can call people of this profession. Poets and writers, playwrights and screenwriters... they are often invisible, but their literary work serves society, reflecting its consciousness and aspirations. They are the voice of their generation, raising eternal questions about the meaning of life, love and the purpose of man. They create a reality that goes beyond everyday life.

One of them is the famous Turkmen writer Hemra Shirov. Not long ago, he was awarded a medal in honor of the 300th anniversary of Magtymguly. Today we offer an interview with this talented and multifaceted author, whose work covers poetry, prose, and drama.

– Your play “Green Emerald” was a real triumph at the TURKSOY Theatre Festival. What inspired you to create it?

– Let me correct you a little. The play “Pursat”, staged at the Magtymguly National Music and Drama Theatre based on this play, won first place at the festival. And the idea to write a play about Magtymguly had been brewing in me for a long time. For the poet’s 300th anniversary, I decided to bring it to life. I wanted to show not only his great poetic heritage, but also his inner world, his experiences. I did not expect that this work would receive such high praise at the international level.

The play “Green Emerald” is my vision of what could have happened to Magtymguly after writing his famous poem “Turgul diydiler”. Imagine: one night, mysterious creatures will appear to the poet and take him on an incredible journey through the seven heavens. There he will see all the secrets of the universe, the past, present and future.

– Then can we say that the theater actually begins not with a coat rack, but with a well-chosen play?

– Theater begins with a dream, ideas, search, trial and error, dialogue... I have been collaborating with the Magtymguly Musical Drama Theater for a very long time, I have the warmest memories with such outstanding composers as Nury Mukhatov, Aman Agadzhikov, Redzhep Allayarov and Ashir Abdullayev. Together we created bright, memorable performances.

A special place in my heart is occupied by the opera "Yartygulak", written in collaboration with Redzhep Redzhepov. It was conducted by Nury Mukhatov and Gurban Babayev. It was a large-scale work, on which we worked long and enthusiastically. I remember how we argued about the distribution of parts, how we looked for ideal performers. Wonderful singer Atageldy Garyagdyev, for example, worked in the philharmonic and was always busy with concerts. For this reason, he would not have been able to constantly attend rehearsals and master the leading role. In the end, they decided to give him the role of a storyteller.

In addition to this opera, we created three children's operas with Redzhep Redzhepov: "The Hunter Cat and His Bride", "The Lazy Frog" and "The Stubborn Cockerel". These operas were aimed at educating the younger generation and instilling in them a love for music. I remember how excited I was when one of our children's operas was staged in one of the Ashgabat music schools. Redzhep and I even went to the premiere...

All these years of cooperation with the theater have been very fruitful for me. I am grateful to fate for the opportunity to work with such talented people and create works that, I hope, will leave their mark on the culture of our country.

– Let's go back to the play "Green Emerald". There are many special effects in the play "Pursat", is this due to some extent to the literary basis?

– The play is written in the genre of metaphysics. And the play is distinguished by innovative techniques, both dramatic and scenic. This is close to dramatic-plastic theater, where the main expressive means are not words, but plasticity, movement, facial expressions of the actors. In such plays, the story is told more through visual images than through dialogues. As an example, we can cite the productions of the famous theater director Roman Viktyuk.

– Fortunately, technology is very advanced now, and with its help a lot can be achieved. In my opinion, in the stage embodiment of the play, there are many interesting directorial moves. I think the production will be interesting for both adult and youth audiences.

By the way, this is not my first play dedicated to Magtymguly. There is another one - "The First Sofa". It won 2nd place at the state competition of playwrights. Two years have passed since then, it was staged and is now part of the repertoire of the Dashoguz Academic Theater.

If in "The Green Emerald" Magtymguly is presented as a chosen one of higher powers, then in the play "The First Sofa" (First Collection) he looks like an ordinary person, a native of the people. In a conversation with the director, I asked to make the image of the poet as simple as possible, without pathos. And he succeeded. Now this play is successfully running at the Dashoguz Academic Theater.

– Share your creative plans, because the new year has just begun, and you probably have plans and ideas.

– I already have librettos for several new operas. One of them is for a children's opera, and the other two are large-scale operas, where classical traditions should be combined with modernity. I am very interested in what the Turkmen opera, musical drama, musical will be like in the near future? I believe there are many opportunities in these genres. There are also plans to organize an exhibition related to verse graphics to show how a poetic text can be visualized. In a word, there are a lot of plans, and I will be happy to work on their implementation!

ORIENT