PUPPET THEATRE
PUPPET THEATRE, Bashkir state-owned. It was created in 1932 in Ufa. The theatre consists of Russian (from 1932) and Bashkir (from 1933) troupes. The founder and first Artistic Managing Dir. – M.N.Yelgashtina (1932–55), 1st Dir. – A.G.Davidson.
Originally the repertoire mostly consisted of propaganda plays and miniatures. Since 1935, after the removal of the official ban on fairy tales, the repertoire has been enriched with the works of Russian and foreign literature.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the troupes united. The theatre performed in hospitals, rode out to the Karelian front (1944). With the arrival of Stage Directors I.F.Arngold and N.V.Misyura (Chief Stage Dir. in 1955–59), the method of effective analysis was used in the rehearsal process, the means of expressiveness became richer. In the 60s, the creative activities of the P.T. were associated with the work of I.F.Kulaga (Chief Stage Dir. in 1961–70). Dolls and screens were technically improved, stage space was transferred from detailed to conditional, special attention was paid to the development of acting skills. The theatre achieved the greatest creative success in the 70–80s under the leadership of V.M.Stein (Chief Stage Dir. in 1977–83). New aesthetics have been developed and a method of synthesis of the art of puppetry and “live” actor has been mastered. There were also performances for adults: White Steamship by A.B.Baranov based on the story by Ch.T.Aitmatov (laureate of the All-Union Festival of National Dramaturgy of the Peoples of the USSR, Gorky, 1978; the main prize of the International Festival of Puppet Theatres from Asian Countries, Tashkent, 1979), Galima based on novella The Darkcomplexioned by M.Gafuri (diploma winner of the International Puppeteers Union UNIMA, Pech, Hungary, 1982) staged by Baranov, Do Not Throw Fire, Prometheus! by M.Karim (the main prize of the International Festival of Puppet Theaters, Moscow, 1978), etc. In 1978, Stein and Dir. N.M.Ayukhanov received the Award named after G.Salyam. The performances of Z.S.Igdavletov and K.F.Gadelshin (Chief Stage Dir. between 1970–77) stood out among the plays of the Bashkir crew. In 1983, P.R.Melnichenko was appointed to the position of the Chief Stage Dir. of the theatre. He staged the performances, distinguished by the depth of the Director’s plan and original stage impersonation. In 1989, he was awarded the International Peace Award named after D.Nehru for his contribution to the strengthening of friendship between the USSR and India.
The creative activities of the theatre between 2001–10 (Chief Stage Dir. – G.A.Valitova) were marked by utilization of various artistic techniques (mask, tintamarresque, transformation, black masking), types and systems of puppets (marionette, glove, life-size). The repertoire was supplemented with the works of Russian, foreign and modern Bashkir literature for children, including the performance Dream Bridge by F.A.Alibayeva based on the novella Long Long Childhood by M.Karim [laureate of the Republican Festival of Performances for Children Kolonsak (Colt; Ufa, 2001) and the Electronic Festival of Theatrical Ethnoart Kugu Sorta (Big Candle; Yoshkar-Ola, 2004)], which became one of the significant productions of these years. Performance Zvezdochka by N.Shmitko is the Winner of the International Festival of Puppet Theatres (Baku, 2011) and the Winner of the District Festival Theatrical Volga Region – Nitochka (Ufa, 2012), Wild Swans by S.L.Prokofyeva and I.P.Tokmakova after the same name fairytale by H.C.Andersen – the Winner of the Grand Prize of the All-Russia Festival of Puppet Theaters Visiting Ole Lukoye (Yoshkar-Ola, 2015), etc.
A.A.Akhmetshin is one of the famous actors.
