Azerbaijani actors bring classic literature to life on stage

The Azerbaijan State Academic Russian Drama Theatre has successfully performed at the 26th International Festival of Russian Theatres.

This year, the festival titled "Meetings in Russia" marks the 225th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, Azernews reports.

The Azerbaijan State Academic Russian Drama Theatre opened the festival with the play "The Captain's Daughter", directed by St. Petersburg director Igor Konyaev.

The theatre's performance of the play "The Captain's Daughter" was met with resounding success and acclaim, showcasing the troupe's exceptional talent and skill in bringing classic literature to life on stage.

The Captain's Daughter is a historical novel by the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin. The novel is a romanticised account of Pugachev's Rebellion in 1773–1774. The title "The Captain's Daughter" has also been used to refer to a collection of stories, one of which was the actual novel. The premiere of the play in Baku took place in June 2023.

The performance was staged within the international project "St. Petersburg Theatre Workshops", organised jointly by the Committee for External Relations of Saint-Petersburg, the Association of Russian Theatre Workers Abroad, and the Baltic House Theatre Festival.

The Azerbaijani actors managed to transfer all the emotions and feelings of their characters. The actors were greeted with thunderous applause and received many positive reviews.

Speaking about the play, director of the Azerbaijan State Academic Russian Drama Theatre, Honoured Cultural Worker Adalat Hajiyev, said at a press conference that it was a great pleasure for Azerbaijani actors to work with Igor Konyaev.

He added that the play "The Captain's Daughter" brought together full houses in the Azerbaijan State Academic Russian Drama Theatre.

The meeting at the Russia Festival welcomes theatre troupes from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and other countries.

The large-scale annual festival is held under the motto "Pushkin forever", and therefore most of the performances shown at it are dedicated to the Russian poet and are based on his prose, poetry, and literature.

The State Russian Drama Theatre, named after Samad Vurgun, plays a major role in the cultural life of the country. Charismatic and extraordinarily talented theatre actors always surprise the audience with wonderful performances.

Many works of Russian literary figures such as Lev Tolstoy, Alexander Pushkin, Anton Chekhov, Nikolai Gogol, and Mikhail Lermontov, works of world classics such as Shakespeare, Schiller, Moliere, Dumas, Hugo, and Balzac, as well as plays based on works of Azerbaijani literary figures such as Jafar Jabbarli, Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Ali bay Huseynzade, Najaf bay Vazirov, and Huseyn Javid, are staged in the theatre.

The theatre team pays special attention to young viewers, and plays a significant role in introducing theatre art to children.