New approaches to the image of Touqay in recent years productions

• Elena Nikolaevna Shevchenko

  Институт языка, литературы и искусства им. Г. Ибрагимова Академии наук Республики Татарстан

  Author

The article examines the performances of Kazan theaters in the period from 2023 to 2026, in which the authors seek to take a fresh look at the personality of Gabdulla Touqay (1886–1913) , free the image of the outstanding Tatar poet from the established cliches, and form a personal attitude towards him. At the same time, they turn to various genres – from performance art to a dramatic performance based on a synthesis of fiction and documentary, from musical and plastic staging to a project using artificial intelligence. This process reflects the general tendency for Russian art to overcome the legacy of the Soviet era in relation to key figures of national cultures, which consists in their idealization and canonization. The article analyzes illustrative examples in this regard from the latest practice of Kazan theaters. The subject of the study was performances representing various authorial approaches to the phenomenon of Touqay, while united by a common desire to reveal it from new angles. This is the “Many-faced Touqay” of the G. Kariev Kazan Tatar Theater for Young Audiences (directed by Eldar Gataullin), two productions by Aidar Zabbarov – “The Return of Tuqay” on the stage of the G. Kamal Tatar State Academic Theater and “Touqay. Orchestra. Artificial Intelligence” at the K. Tinchurin Tatar State Theater of Drama and Comedy, as well as the play “Tuqay. Forgiveness” by the Apush Children’s Theater Studio of the Moskovsky Cultural Center, directed by Bulat Gataullin. The purpose of this article is to study the uniqueness of the image of Gabdulla Touqay created in the performances of Kazan theaters in recent years. The goal required solving the following tasks: to trace the evolution of the stage image of Touqay in the Tatar theater; to identify which aspects of the poet’s life, work and personality are in the focus of attention of modern directors; to determine what is the vector of their search for “their Touqay” and what is the novelty of the author’s approach; to find out what directing techniques are used to create the portrayal of the poet; to reveal the specifics of the artistic form and to establish the genre affiliation of the analyzed productions. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that, for the first time, productions by Tatar theatres dedicated to the figure of G. Tukay are subjected to a comprehensive analysis; at the same time, the latest material from recent stage practice is introduced into scientific circulation.

1. Elena Nikolaevna Shevchenko, Институт языка, литературы и искусства им. Г. Ибрагимова Академии наук Республики Татарстан

   Cand. of Sciences (Philology), senior researcher

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