New names and interpretations of classics are expected in the theater life of Turkmenistan
The profession of “theater director” is getting younger. If once the great masters of the stage believed that directing requires a lot of life experience, today all the doors to the world of theater are open for young people. One has only to pluck up the courage and enter! Well, anything, but the courage of today's students is to be missed.
For their graduation works, students of the directing department of the State Institute of Culture of Turkmenistan chose the most famous theatrical plays – “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare, “The Bear” by Anton Chekhov and “Kindred Souls” by O. Henry. Honored art worker of Turkmenistan, teacher, director Maral Durdyeva helps young graduate directors with practical advice.
A female director is now also not uncommon. Here is Tavus Khakimova, a graduate student from Turkmenabat, where she has already worked as an actress. Her graduation performance based on the Shakespearean comedy “The Taming of the Shrew” is the largest in terms of the number of actors involved, but Tavus is confident in it. On the stage of the Mollanepes Student Theater, rehearsals take place from morning to late evening.
Everyone wants to go through the performance, work on the mise-en-scenes, build the light and the scenery. The most desperate continue to rehearse at home. As Vsevolod Meyerhold said: “Training! Training! Training!..”.
ORIENT correspondents watched the dress rehearsal of Anton Chekhov's comic comedy The Bear. The one-act vaudeville was recently presented on the stage of the country's main drama theater. But the students were not afraid to tackle the Russian classics and built the plot in their own way.
“This comedy will always be interesting due to its proposed circumstances,” says student mentor Maral Durdyeva. - The Chekhov’s conflict draws the heroes into active, purposeful action, all actors have something to play. I only help young directors to observe the acting and the tempo of the performance. So that they can feel the return of the artists and work on the overall picture of the staging.
In student performances, the emphasis is not on dialogues, but on the development of action. Something is always happening on the stage, the emotions and passions boiling inside the plot do not subside for a minute. The audience's reaction is the best estimate of the work of actors and directors. And, judging by the applause of professional actors and classmates who came to support the graduates, everything works out just fine.
