M.A.P. Int'l Theatre Festival to rejoice playgoers
By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade
The third M.A.P. (Music. Art. Performance.) International Theater Festival, organized by YARAT Contemporary Art Space, will be held in Baku from October 10 to 20.
The festival program includes 18 performances representing a wide variety of genres and trends - from drama, modern dance, physical theater and puppet shows to clownery and musical productions with elements of circus show.
Participants of M.A.P. will include collectives from State Academic Theater named after E. Vakhtangov (Russia), AKHE Theater (Russia), Priyut Komedianta Theater (Russia), Kukolniy Dom Theater (Russia), New Riga Theater (Latvia), Academic Maly Dramatic Theater – Theater of Europe (Russia), Puppet Theater of David Espinosa (Spain), OLE! (Spain / UK), WHS Theater (Finland), world-renowned Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company (Israel), Sardegna Theater (Italy), Atelier Theater (Russia), Puppet Cinema (Israel) and Recirquel company (Hungary).
The festival will be held at seven venues - Azerbaijan State Academic Musical Theater, Azerbaijan State Academic Russian Drama Theater, UNS Creative Stage, YARAT Center for Contemporary Art, Azerbaijan State Puppet Theater, Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theater, and Opera Studio at the Baku Music Academy named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli.
The theater week will officially open with the “The Gathering of the Mad” play by Kamran Shahmardan, who has reconceived the namesake work of Azerbaijani literature classicist Jalil Mammadguluzade and rendered it new and topical for contemporary society tunes, music, and drive.
The opening of M.A.P. will be accompanied by the showcase of posters for all plays that have been staged over the three years of its existence. YARAT Center guests will be able to learn about the most outstanding moments of the festival history even before they enter the auditorium.
As in the previous two seasons, the festival will cover all the main theatrical venues of Baku and familiarize the audience with the most striking performances that have appeared over the past few years.
YARAT is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally. Based in Baku, YARAT (meaning CREATE in Azerbaijani) was founded by Aida Mahmudova in 2011.
--
Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz