Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

ESA Theater has opened its fourth season with the play based on the famous comedy "A Story about the Botanist-Doctor Monsieur Jordan and the Famous Sorcerer Dervish Mastali Shah" by Mirza Fatali Akhundov.

Speaking about the performance, theater general manager Nijat Gulam noted that its premiere took place last year and was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Trend Life reported.

This time the play was staged in a new format using modern technology. Interestingly, the theater’s management initiated an interesting campaign. Each spectator who came to the performance with book was awarded with a free ticket.

The play was staged by Elshan Asgarov. The cast included actors Imran Lalayev, Samaya Agayarova, Konul Shahbazova, Elvin Mirzoyev, Niyaz Ilyasoglu, Elsever Rahimov, Rafael Shahbayli, Farid Aliyev, Gunay Mammadova and so on.

ESA Theater is the first inclusive theater with actors with disabilities in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus.

The theater destroys all stereotypes in the theater art, which has ancient traditions.

The name of the theater consists of three words – Unobstructed, Unlimited and Free. This is how its actors feel despite their limited possibilities of health.

The theater’s progressive goals include ensuring and accelerating social integration of the persons with disabilities, ensuring joint activity of people with or without disabilities, raising their social and public welfare, promoting them to deal with not only theater, but also other fields of the art, etc..

A Story about the Botanist-Doctor Monsieur Jordan and the Famaus Sorcerer Dervish Mastali Shah is a satirical comedy written by great Azerbaijani playwright and poet M.F. Akhundov. The comedy was written on the basis of real facts.

In the 1840's the French scientist Aleksis Jordan came to explore the Karabakh flora. He was very pleased with the humanist and hospitable attitude of Azerbaijani people towards him. When he left Azerbaijan he said that he would always remember Karabakh and Azerbaijani people who did their best and served him sincerely. In the image of Monsieur Jordan M.F.Akhundzadeh describes him as a progressive scientist - the representative of the developed French bourgeois society contradicting dervish Mastali Shah who deceives the illiterate people.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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