The article covers  M. Tumanishvili  Art  International  Festival  “Sachuqari” (“Present”).  It discusses performances of Peter Brook and Irina  Brook theatre, A. Krimov “Dram Art School”, Swedish Kulberg ballet, G. Masterson mono performance.

“Kostumi” (“ Costume”), created according to the motives by Kent Temba, Motobi Muthloatse and Barney Simon, staged by P. Brook (co-directors Mare-Elen Estien and Frank Kravchek), describes criminal actions committed by apartheid political system, which sounds quite actual and important today as well. The ensemble, song and dance skilful rendering fascinated Georgian spectators, who expressed their respect for the whole troupe by prolonged applause.  The performance is a little story of a “family” couple, where two loving each other people of different races are not allowed to live together.

The trilogy  “Storm”, “Odysseus”, “Island  of slaves” staged by  Irina Brook “Dream Theatre” have in common only the abandoned island, where all these take place. It’s clear, that unification of such different authors – Shakespeare, Homer and Pier Marivo should have created a certain eclecticism, that is evident.   

The pick of the festival program are  considered performances  of Dima Krimov “Drama Art School”.   The performance “Katia, Sonia, Poline, Galia, Vera, Olia, Tania… “  tells a story of these heroines. The performances by this director are notable for a kind of symphonism, where each actor plays the solo part and is involved in the whole sounding. Let’s consider the Chechen and the Parisian women, a jazz singer in the “Giraffe’s death”, the characters with different destiny and temper. Everything that is taking place on the stage is planned, designed and implemented by  D. Krimov, even the musical background. Let’s take, for example, battle  of   5 or 6 grand pianos against the background of “Leningrad Symphony” by D. Shostakovich, where, curiously enough, even the gritting sound of metal is perceived as an immortal music. “Opos #7” is a tragedy. It is an ode about the creative man who was so smashed by the soviet system, that only shadow remains of him.

The performance “High Heels” by  Swedish Kulberg Ballet (choreographer Benua Rashambre, composer Han Rou) can not be regarded as just a ballet. It is some kind of XXII century theatre outset, with its music, painting, art design, plasticity and high heels, in the first place there are applied the artist’s body, beautiful shapes, original lighting, illusion of rain etc.   in  Gai Masterson’s mono-performance “Shailock”, directed by Garet Armstrong. On the stage we see three different characters – Shailok himself, Thobal and the artist who acts one and the other by turn. With great energy and expression Gai Masterson plays these parts, he acts not a new interpretation of  Shakespeare’s “Venetian Merchant”, but Shailok himself -  a story of a Jewish merchant  in the world where Jewish people are blamed for everything – beginning with Cain’s sin and ending with the Crucifixion  of Christ.

On the festival closing day there was held a world premiere by “Drama Art School” laboratory – a performance after Anton Pavlov’s “Three Sisters” staged specially for the festival “Sachuqari”,  at first sight, this performance has nothing in common with the play, except for the Chekhov’s phrase that “Balzac got married in Berdichev”, this is a performance-experiment, clownery on the “Three Sisters”  topic, where everything is turned inside out. Though there is typical for Chekhov optimistic-pessimistic  mood  and the characters are the same, but transformed, grotesque, time to time they return to the dramatist’s text and try to maintain sequence of action.