CULTURE
GEORGIA TODAY DECEMBER 15 - 18, 2017
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Popular Fairytale Transformed into Modern Play on Batumi Stage inated show in the UK, so it got a lot of praise in the press and it turned out a great success,” said Cressida Brown. “This is why I decided to bring it to Georgia and introduce the story to the local audience from a different perspective. In the play there’s lot of fun, joy and action. Cinderella is a very modern girl and instead of crystal shoes, she wears sparkling golden boots. She is definitely a real hero and Prince Charming actually follows her!” Brown is the artistic director of the Offstage Theater (2006-present) and the winner of the UK Kevin Spacey Foundation’s UK Artist of Choice 2015. Additionally, the director was nominated for 10 Offies including Best Production twice, Best Director. Cressida says she enjoyed working with the Georgian cast and that it was not difficult at all for her to cooperate with them. “I think Cinderella is quite an old fairytale but it needs updating,” she adds. “This version is about real love: the characters fall in love because they like each other’s personalities and not only appearances. It serves as a wonderful example of how love can overcome greed. The play runs for just three days, but I hope it will be included in the theater repertoire.”
It serves as a wonderful example of how love can overcome greed It’s a colorful and extremely fun play full of sweets, fights and toys: in a word, everything that kids like, bringing the real Christmas spirit to spectators and leaving smiles on the faces of all. The play and entire project was implemented jointly by the British Council-Georgia and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Adjara Autonomous Republic, as part of the Performing Arts Support Program that is aimed at developing the performing arts sector and improving audience engagement in Adjara.
BY LIKA CHIGLADZE
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he Adjaran city of Batumi hosted the premier of a play based on a wellknown and beloved fairytale, Cinderella, on December 12. The contemporary version of the popular story, named “Cinderella: a fairy tale” by Sally Cookson and Adam Peck, was staged by Cressida Brown, a renowned British theater director, at the Batumi State Drama Theater. The actors of the theater were actively involved in the project and collaborated with the foreign director and performed with great enthusiasm for the local audience. The play brought new life to an old classic, and presented it in a creative and modern way. The authors of the play say the new Cinderella touches upon such issues as parental love, parental cruelty, sibling rivalry, jealousy, isolation, revenge, survival,
The modern Cinderella is an Olivier Award nominated show in theUK falling in love and addresses fundamental questions about what it is to be human. The performance perfectly depicts the issues of the contemporary world, since the events take place in a modern setting. So, aside from being fun, children get more to think about! “The modern Cinderella is an Olivier Award nom-
Charity Exhibition to be Launched in Tbilisi, Focusing on Environmental Issues
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he Zurab Tsereteli Modern Museum of Arts and public union IDEA, along with partner Socar Energy Georgia presented a charity exhibition project “LIVE LIFE” on December 10, and January 3, 2018. The idea of the project is to alert people to environmental problems. During 2016-2017, the project was presented in London, Berlin, Paris and Moscow, and this year, the exhibition will take place in Tbilisi. The base of the exposition consists of the works of IDEA founder, Leyla Aliyeva, whose paintings are highly artistic and romantic, on which folklore and rare animals and birds are represented, meant as a metaphor to show the viewers how vulnerable and undefended nature can be. In addition, there will be 11 works by talented Azerbaijani and Georgian painters, who are also very keen on the issue of protecting the environment: Oleg Timchenko, David Aleksidze, Giga Kobidze, David “Dante” Mchedlishvili, Mariam Alakbarl, Rakhim Chopurov, Ailal Heidarova, Timur Ozdamirov, Naila Sultan and Fidan Novruzova. The varied style of the pieces creates a real diversity to the exposition. The aim of the project is to make us pay attention to global problems in ecology.
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