From September 3 to 10, performances of the Obraztsov State Academic Central Puppet Theater took place in the Republic of Uzbekistan with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The events were organized within the framework of the Big Tour program of the All-Russian Tour and Concert Plan and the Russian Seasons international project.
On September 4, a media scrum at the Uzbek National Puppet Theater dedicated to the start of the Obraztsov State Academic Central Puppet Theater tour in Tashkent took place.
Director of the Obraztsov Theater Elena Bulukova expressed gratitude to the Russian Seasons, which invited the theater to take part in such an incredible project, and recalled that in 2018, the Obraztsov company already came to Uzbekistan within the framework of the Big Tour with two classical puppet shows. She emphasized: “We would like to show the audience that puppet theater can exist not only for children, but also for adults. Therefore, this year we brought recent productions and our hallmark show An Extraordinary Concert – we chose the top shows from our repertoire.”
The Chief Director of the theater, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Boris Konstantinov, spoke in more detail about the program of the tour. He noted: “With Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves we were very much afraid of “bringing a samovar to Tula.” But being backstage I heard the applause of the audience – the show was very well received! This means we weren’t mistaken, this means we got it right. We are puppeteers, storytellers and travelers. We need to be on the road. This very venue is no longer alien to us – we are guests, but we feel at home. And the most important thing is we could hear the pulse of the audience, we could feel what happens in their souls and look into their eyes, and there was sunshine in those eyes.”
Director of the State Youth Theater of Uzbekistan Farhod Juraev congratulated the audience on the continuation of the Russian Seasons and reminded that “10 more global events are planned for the end of the year.”
The most prominent Russian puppet art center brought five productions of different genres to Tashkent for audiences of different age categories. On 4 September, on stage of the Uzbek National Puppet Theater, two shows of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves for the youngest theatergoers (6+) were held, and on 6 and 7 September the touching play by Alexander Popescu Sunbeam (6+) was presented. Turkiston Palace of Arts hosted the world’s most famous puppet show An Extraordinary Concert (12+) staged by People’s Artist of the RSFSR Semyon Samodur and People’s Artist of the USSR Sergei Obraztsov. On September 5 and 6, the audience had a chance to watch the best Moscow’s puppet show of the 2017-2018 season (according to Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper rating) – Turandot (16+) based on the fairy tale by Carlo Gozzi (directed by Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Boris Konstantinov); On 8 and 9 September, the shows of the musical triptych The Old Señor and… (16+) revealing the stories from the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez were presented to thee audience.
As part of the Russian Seasons international project in the Republic of Uzbekistan, the oldest Russian animation film studio Soyuzmultfilm held animation master classes for young residents of the Kazakh capital on 4 and 5 September. The masterclasses resulted in creating the original cartoons made by the children. Soyuzmultfilm also organized a series of screenings of the sitcom animated films Prostokvashino, the animated series The Adventures of Petya and the Wolf , short animated cartoons Gentle Heart (directed by Evgenia Zhirkova), My Friend Tiger (directed by Tatiana Kiseleva), The Ship That Wanted to Fly (dir. Ekaterina Filippova), etc..
Also, on September 4 Prokopy Ulyashov, an illustrator and promotion specialist for the Soyuzmultfilm film studio, delivered a lecture How We Help Sharik Keep a Blog From Prostokvashino in Tashkent. He revealed some secrets of who helps Sharik keep a blog. The favorite cartoon film characters – the Hare and the Wolf from Nu pogodi (Well, Just You Wait) cartoon film were helping the lecturer.
