These days the premiere of the work “Iblis and…” was held. The first “Iblis” storm that hit the stage of the Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theater was seen at the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. In Russia, the performance caused a huge response.
The play based on Huseyn Javid’s “Iblis” was first performed on December 21, 1920 at the Azerbaijan State Theater (now Azerbaijan State National Academic Drama Theater) and was a great event for the theatrical life of Azerbaijan.
“Caspian” The newspaper published an article on the subject.
Javid’s “Devil” is first and foremost “Devils.”
Well-versed in European philosophy, culture and Greek mythology, Huseyn Javid’s “Iblis” stands head and shoulders above all Iblis images created before and after him. Because his “Devil” is a superhuman, destructive, cruel, insidious and cunning creature who uses all kinds of hateful means to achieve his goal. He has no mercy. Throughout the play, Javid has compared both sides of human character: mercy and cruelty. The staging of such a work requires, of course, great skill and mastery on the part of the director, familiarity with Javid’s creativity and spirit, as well as with human psychology. Mehriban Alekbarzade, honored artist and winner of the state prize, has overcome this problem.
A new event for our theater history
Today the philosophical-deconstructive metadrama “Iblis va…”, which was reborn in Mehriban Alakbarzade’s production on the motives of the play “Iblis”, was a new event in the history of Azerbaijani theater. The work “The Devil and…” is a successful synthesis of classics and modernity. With this synthesis, the intense struggle of Iblis and those around him could manifest itself in brilliant tones.
The dynamics of the characters “Iblis” and “Arif”.
The interpreter of the character of Iblis was Ayshad Mammadov, well known to all of us for “The Ring of Fortune” (understood by Anar Heybatov). The energy that the actor put into successfully acquiring the role was felt even in the farthest reaches of the courtroom. It was great to change his tone of voice and facial expressions depending on his mood and the message he was conveying. As for the difference between Mehriban Khanum’s “Devil” and Javid’s “Devil”, the devil in the play was crueler, more insidious and more modern.
Arif was played by Murad Ismayil, who was specially invited by the Russian Academic Drama Theater for this role. The suffering of the actor, who skillfully created the characters Ali and Nino in “Ali and Nino” and Devlet Bey in “Aydin”, and who joined the show shortly after, was not in vain. Murad was able to convey Arif’s spirit, psychological tension and fight to the maximum in 11 training sessions. It should be noted that the actor appeared on the stage of “Azdrama” for the first time after seven years after his last role with Fuad Poladov in “Mrs. Ibrahim and the Flower of the Koran.”
Different performance of “Rana”, “Elkhan” and “Khavar”.
It is worth mentioning the character of “Frog”. Vafa Zeynalova played the character. His clothing was particularly striking. This Rena is also very different from Rena, the Turkish Sister of Compassion in the original, in a good way. It’s as if she were crazier, she is a fearless woman who sets herself on fire to find her father’s murderer. Energetic and with a character more appropriate to today’s society.
Elkhan by Elshan Rustamov is also worthy of praise. The actor professionally applied his magnificent performance in this character. His tone of voice, his movements, his feeling of taking complete control of the stage and the audience were unique.
The plasticity, agility and extreme sensitivity of the other side of the Xavier stage, created by Lala Suleymanova among young people, cannot be overlooked.
Light, sound and applause…
The colors black, white and red predominated in the decoration, the lights and the costumes of the actors in the play. It is known that black is considered a cold and sad color and is the complete opposite of the color white, clarity and the symbol of light. Red is the color of life. At the same time, it is a symbol of activity, energy, dynamism, strength, tenacity, perseverance, as well as love, passion and anger. Huseyn Javid’s “Iblis” is the sum of all these things, and on stage, through the unity of those colored lights, it seems to be an empowering factor in addition to the actor’s work and the director’s structure.
It is also worth mentioning the music of the work. The national spirit music, especially the amazing tar performance, seems to complete the scenes.
Applause at the end of the performance.
If we say that the performance was a success, we would not be wrong. Overall, each play by Ms. Mehriban surprises in a good way and makes us believe that our theater scene is in good hands. As a director, Ms. Mehriban has a good understanding of human psychology and nature and can convey it professionally with full energy through an actor.
The applause at the end of the performance also shows how it was received. The applause from the audience, who stood up to thank the cast and the director, did not stop, nor did the succession of flower crowns stop.
