Gift Festival Week 2 Summary
This week at the festival we welcomed the renowned Russian director Dmitry Krymov, who bought his production of the classic Russian play Bezpridannitsa (Without a Dowry) to the Rustaveli theatre, performed by students of the Moscow Theater “School of Dramatic Arts”.
Apparently, this is a play that every Russian kid has to study at school, but coming from England, I had never heard of it, so wasn’t sure what to expect. If I’m completely honest I was not looking forward to watching a play in a language I don’t understand for nearly three hours, even though I had heard it had won a lot of awards. But I was pleasantly surprised. Thankfully language was just one of the many elements that made up this incredible production. It was a beautiful example of theatrical parataxis, or as Hans-Thies Lehmann describes it, “the de-hierarchization of theatrical means”. As a non-Russian speaker, I was very grateful for this! Krymov used video projection, music, song, costume, and a well-timed wind machine to tell the story as well as words. And as you would expect from a Russian laboratory theatre, the actor's physicality and expression were flawless. Overall, I enjoyed the show, even though I didn’t have a grasp on the story.
As I can’t speak Russian, I wouldn’t have made a very good guide for the Russian artists, so my role this week has involved ironing costumes for the production, and just being a general dogsbody, or as they say in German ‘springer’ (jumper). I think I prefer the German phrase.
On Monday I was also put to the test of watching theatre in a foreign language, but this time in Georgian. Keely and Du, written by American playwright Jane Martin in the 80s, was translated into Georgian and directed by Gift’s own Artistic Director Keti Dolidze. Performed in the Liberty Theater, the piece concerned itself with the contentious issues of rape, abortion, religion and suicide. Though it may not sound like the cheeriest way to spend a Monday evening, the piece skillfully negotiated the emotional topics. It’s sad and frustrating that, though written thirty years ago in America, this play is still relevant today, in any country. It was certainly a brave choice to programme the play here in Georgia and at this time, and I think the audience appreciated that
Basically, this week at the festival reflects most of my time in Georgia, in that I have no idea what is going on, but at the same time, I’m very happy.
I have to say this coming week is more my forté, and it’s going to be a super busy one. On Friday we open the festival’s Italian Focus, with Sardinian Culture Days. The opening session, Rispondi Al Futuro, will be a discussion on contemporary Italian Theater, held at the Rustaveli Theater at 2pm on Friday 2nd. Then we are welcoming Sardegna Teatro all the way from Sardinia, to the Rustaveli Theater. On Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd, they will perform Macbettu, their version of Shakespeare’s classic Macbeth with a twist: it’s performed in Sardinian, with Italian and Georgian subtitles. For audience members who don’t speak any of those languages, I think our universal knowledge of the story line will help us through (but maybe google the synopsis beforehand to be sure). Alongside all this, I’m going to be attending as much as I can of the International Symposium on Polyphony, at the State Conservatoire, running until Saturday 3rd. I’m so excited to be surrounded by singers from all over the world, and reunited with friends who will sing Georgian polyphony with me! Look out for the closing concert on the 3rd, which includes Tenore Murales, singing polyphony from Sardinia. And just in case there wasn’t enough singing this week, on Sunday 4th, the Gift Festival is hosting a folk party at Vineria (our festival club) from 12pm-6pm. There’s going to be some absolute gems of singing there, including Tenore Murales from Sardinia, Ialoni and Adilei from Georgia, and maybe even yours truly with some of my singing mates! And if you STILL haven’t had enough, we’re screening an Italian film in the evening of 4th, called La Stoffa Dei Sogni (The Cloth of Dreams) at the Amirani Cinema. Hope to see you at any/all of these wonderful events!
For a full schedule of the month’s events, pick up a programme in Prospero’s bookstore, or visit the GIFT Festival Facebook page.
By Holly Taylor