“Arshin Mal Alan” performed by “Gunay” Children’s Theatre and dedicated to 125th anniversary of Uzeyir Hajibeyov

Assembly hall
Time: 18:00
Organizer: Children's Theatre "Gunay" jointly with Museum Center

On 21 May 2010 at 18:00, the “Gunay” Children’s Theatre organized a performance of “Arshin Mal Alan” in the Assembly hall of the Museum Centre. The performance was dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the great Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov. In 2010 the Museum Centre organized many different activities for children under the theme “Museum to Children”. There were thematic lectures, exhibitions of children’s art, shows, holiday performances etc.
Among the events organised was the Museum Centre’s new project “Theatre in the museum”. The “Gunay” Children’s Theatre organized a number of performances within this project. The concept of the project lay in the harmonious interaction of the theatrical and visual arts. The setting for the young actors’ performance was not the traditional scenery, but paintings by Azerbaijani artists of all generations, specially selected for this performance. This was a new and daring combination of Uzeyir Hajibeyov’s great music with paintings: the special aroma of the early 20th century was transmitted by the paintings of Azim Azimzade, the bright colours of Toghrul Narimanbeyov fascinated, the silent contemplation of the streets of Icheri-Sheher by Faiq Gambarov, Arif and Orkhan Huseynov, Anar Huseynzade, the bright memories and mysteries conveyed by Enver Askerov’s screens and Vugar Ali’s kaleidoscope of characters … the combination of these two forms of art gave amazing results. The sincere ingenuousness of the young actors’ performance against a background of colourful and fiery spectacle imparted a festive spirit to the audience, the magic of a child’s dream and the allure of an illusion which someday will come true.
Vugar Ali was responsible for the artistic arrangement of the performance at the Museum Centre.
Larisa Tarusova has been the director of the “Gunay” theatre since 2003. There are several interesting performances in the theatre’s repertoire. Some of them have been presented in the Museum Centre, the rest will be presented to audiences in the autumn and winter of this year. On 02.06.10 there was another performance of the “Gunay” theatre as part of the “Theatre in the museum” project.
Their performance of “Arshin Mal Alan” was first staged in 2007. Since then it has been performed in different arenas in the city and was awarded the diploma of the Union of Theatre Workers of Azerbaijan. In 2010 “Arshin Mal Alan” won a competitive selection by an international jury and represented Azerbaijan in the 24th International Theatre Festival for Children’s and Youth Groups in the city of Toulouse in France.