Georgia: The book “Theater of the Erekle Second Era” was presented at the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Youth of Georgia.
The presentation was hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Minister of Culture and Sports Thea Tsulukiani, Minister of Education, Culture and Sports Maya Khajishvili, Director of Georgian Art Palace – Museum of Culture Giorgi Kalandia, Rector of the Theater and Film University Giorgi Shalutashvili, artistic directors of the theaters of Tbilisi and regions, actors and theater SF Other representatives of Euro were present.
The author of the book is Lasha Chkhartishvili, a theater scientist, doctor of arts, and associate professor of Georgian Shota Rustaveli Theater and Cinema State University.
The researcher has been working on this work for more than two years, during which time he found many materials and historical documents unknown to the public preserved in Georgian and Russian archives and museums. These documents confirm that professional theater was established in Georgia not in the XIX but in the second half of the XVIII century.
Within the presentation, there was an exhibition of pictures created exclusively for this project by the famous Georgian artist Mamuka Tsetskhladze. The artist created 27 paintings, including portraits of theater performers whose faces had never existed before.
The editors of the book “Erekle Second Era Theater” are historian Giorgi Kalandia and theater expert Marika Mamatsashvili; Irina Abzhandadze is responsible for the concept, design, and photo of the book.
The book describes the political-social precedent that contributed to the formation of professional drama and theater. It is noteworthy that at the same time, the performance theater known as “Machabella Dass” based on Giorgi Avalishvili’s Throne, Gabriel Major’s national and folk, improvisation-based performance theater, which is known as “Dass of Machabella” was created and started functioning. Based on historical sources, the book tells about the heroic commitment of Georgian actors in the Krtsanisi war.
The project won the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Georgia’s competition “Free Projects.” The book is bilingual (Georgian-English) and published by Modern Georgian Theater Research Center and Sezan Publishing.
