A modern rather than traditional interpretation of Shakespeare’s King Lear was received with enthusiasm by Ashgabat’s playgoers.The original representation directed by Urmatkan Melyayeva was presented by actors of the Mollanepes Student Theater.
Choreography is a second major descriptive language here.A plastic movement highlights the dramatic narrative that depicts the clash of humanness and callousness, greed and ambitiousness through the prism of a family drama.
Among the work’s strongest features is respect for the original plot.The prologue is a screaming, emotionally tense performance.The stage becomes a battlefield where soldiers convulse in their death throes; a battlefield where a brutal fight for British lands takes place.
And only then the background of the fight unfolds before spectators.Flushed with illusion of omnipotence, requiring submissiveness, susceptible to flattery, King Lear disposes of his kingdom by giving bequests to his two eldest daughters and disinheriting his younger child, Cordelia, the only one who truly loves him.
He pays the price when he is banished and drinks the cup of loss and suffering.Not only does this reckless act bring a personal drama, but also the war of conquest in a weakened state.
The King himself and his daughters die.The avant-garde stance is traced in every detail, and particularly in the focus on choreography and lighting solutions in a concise stage design.
The theatrical style is highlighted by original, smooth and buoyant costumes of dark shades contrasting with Lear’s white clothing.Even the dark brown scarves symbolizing the lands granted to Goneril and Regan are merely an accident.
The costumes were also designed by Urmatkan Melyayeva.It is worth mentioning that King Lear is not the only play enhanced by choreography that Urmatkan directed.She has found her original, signature style that we remember since the staging of Cain and Abel.
As part of the project of the Ministry of Culture to promote the sharing of directing experience, she staged Leyli and Mejnun at the Balkan Drama Theater, a play where the emotional intensity of the plot is conveyed through the expressive language of choreography.
The title role, King Lear, was coveted by the People’s Artist of Turkmenistan, Anna Mele.It became his signature role as he first played King Lear when he was 35, and later enriched it with new philosophic hues.
Other roles were played by students who study acting at the State Institute of Culture. 4 students of the department of directing of this institute assisted Urmatkan.Urmatkan Melyayeva’s future plans include the staging of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
While Urmatkan is shaping the style of the new play, spectators are living on the promise of a vibrant, unconventional adaptation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece.