National Drama Theater premieres Italian comedy

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

National Drama Theater has premiered Eduardo De Filippo's comedy "Filumena Marturano". The performance is based on the work of the same name.

In the play, the image of Filumena Marturano was embodied by People's Artist Besti Jafarova while People's Artist Ramiz Novruz played the role of Domenico Soriano.

They shared the same stage with the Honored Artist Sevinj Aliyeva, actors Ramin Shikhaliyev, Laman Imanova, Shahla Aligizi, Ilaha Hasanova, Farida Shahbazova, Vusal Mustafayev, Elnur Gadirov, George Gafarov, Jafidan Novruz, Elsavar Rahimov, Firuza Balayeva and Khadija Novruzlu.

People's Artist Azer Pasha Nematov (artistic director), Honored Artist Nijat Kazymov (stage director), Mehman Fatullayev (director), Honored Cultural Worker Ilham Elkhanoghlu (production designer), Kamil Ismauyilov (music) and Lala Hajiyeva (choreographer) were  involved in the work on the production.

The comedy was translated into Azerbaijani by Ulviya Heydarova.

Sparkling dialogues, brilliant acting skills and exciting story left no one indifferent.

Story behind Italian comedy

The play "Filumena Marturano" was written in 1946 by Italian playwright, actor and poet Eduardo De Filippo.

The work was initially was written as a tribute to Eduardo's sister Titina De Filippo, a famous Neapolitan theatrical actress, who took the title role in the first production in Naples in 1946.

The main characters of the play, Domenico and Filumena, have been living together for twenty six years. Filumena has tricked Domenico, pretending to be near death, and convincing him to marry her. However, he would rather marry Diana.

Filumena reveals the real reason for the marriage to Domenico: She wants to create a family for her three children (Umberto, Michele and Riccardo) who have no idea of who their mother really is.

Domenico is not going to allow this and asks his lawyer Nocella to annul the marriage. Filumena speaks to the young men telling them that she is their mother. Filumena accepts the defeat of the annulment, but tells Domenico that one of the three children is actually his. All attempts to find out who his son is fail, and Domenico, after 10 months, remarries Filumena accepting to be the father of all three.

In the play, Filumena memorably tells Domenico that "children are children, and they're all equal".