Uzbek students honored with Moliere theater awards

Since 1987, France has annually presented ‘Les Molieres’, awards named in honor of French playwright Moliere, to recognize excellence in French theater art. The best participants in the first Francophone theater festival among youth and students in Uzbekistan were also given Moliere awards in various categories.

For two days the amateur troupes from different corners of the country presented excerpts from their favorite plays in the French language to the judgment of the jury. The 18 teams were assisted by actors of the Youth Theater, who reincarnated into Jean-Batiste Moliere and French King Luis XIV, presented how people in the future would study the French language by means of theatrical art.

The task of assessing the competing teams’ actors’ skills, the scenography, dramatic composition and such other creative aspects of the plays was entrusted to stage director Komila Abdurakhmonova and teacher of the State Institute of Arts and Culture Maryam Agishova. The right pronunciation of the French text was followed by Attaché of the French Embassy in Uzbekistan Frederic Guillaume. 

The organizers of the festival – the French Embassy and the Youth Theater of Uzbekistan – announced the winners at the awards ceremony and presented them with statues for winning in different categories. Some winners of the cherished awards presented the spectators excerpts from their respective plays.

Especially touching was a performance by quite young school children from school №196, who played a scene from the well-known film “You are Not an Orphan” in French. The young actors’ sincerity and emotions were very captivating, and they really managed to cope with difficult roles. They were deservedly awarded the jury’s special prize.

Pupils of the specialized school №43, who prepared an original story “Samar and Kand: a New Legend” about two lovers, who after having married settled in the city currently called Samarkand, were also announced winners of the festival. They won in the “The Best Visual Effects” Award.

“The boys and girls played 15-minute excerpts on average. It was gratifying to see that the youth from different towns and cities of Uzbekistan love theater and are willing to be engaged in theatrical art. I was also pleased to see that they feel excited about culture and arts,” says Komila Abdurakhmonova. “I remembered a boy from the play “You are Not an Orphan”, who played the part of a soldier. He took responsibility upon him playing the role of a villain. To cope with it he had to find something positive in the character he played to be able to understand his hero’s motivation. This young participant was able to understand the dialectics of human spirit. I would gladly invite him to our theater if he were older. We argued much in determining the best ones in different nominations since we liked many plays. But we did not have any differences in selecting the best play.”

’Le Medecin malgre lui‘ by Moliere staged by students of the Andijon State University was recognized as the best among stage directors’ works. And the Grand Prix “Moliere for the Best Play” went to students of the Uzbek State University of World Languages, who staged an excerpt “An Eventful Day” from Pierre Beaumarchais’ ‘Le Mariage de Figaro’.

“We will definitely take part in the festival also the next year, because we liked the atmosphere, which prevailed in the theater. It has brought closer together the participants and helped to accustom us to the classics. We enjoyed watching performances staged by other festival participants,” says Gulnoz Marupova, who played the main character. “We are grateful to stage director Komila Abdurakhmonova. She supported all of us, pointed to our imperfections, and helped with decorations. It was difficult to play in a foreign language, but one thing I understood for sure: Beaumarchais’ works sound best in their original language.”

Source: Jahonnews.uz