Nukha’s theatrical life in the 30s-40s of the 20th century (challenges, progress, problems)

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Nukha's theatrical life in the 30s-40s of the 20^th century (challenges, progress, problems)

K.F. Adishirinov

Annotation

The theatre in Nukha was founded by the amateur theatre troupe who staged the comedy “Haji Kara” by Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, a prominent playwright of the Azerbaijani literature in the 19^th century. The path opened by the theatre amateurs was later expanded, and it led to getting a state status of the Nukha Theatre in 1936. The path of the Nukha Theatre had not been smooth enough, and as it is mentioned in the article, the Nukha Theatre had to be closed in 1949 due to a lack of financial support by the government and a lack of actors. In the 70s of the 20^th century, the theatre life in Nukha was revived by a group of students of the Azerbaijan Institute of Culture and Arts sent to Sheki to work, and the theatre stepped to its new successful stage of its history. The activity of the Nukha Theatre in the 30s-40s was out of research and became a history in archive documents till the writing of this article. Indeed, limited information about the development of the Nukha Theatre was given by theatre researchers in the direction of research of the Azerbaijani Theatre, but the path of development of theatre had not been studied in the specific direction. This article is a part of the first step in this direction. The topicality of the article is a systematic and historical chronological study of the Nukha Theatre, which was the integral part of the Azerbaijani Theatre in the 30s-40s of the 20^th century, for the first time in a wide range. The scientific novelty of the topic is related to introducing the path of development of the Nukha Theatre in the 30s-40s of the 20^th century to readers broadly.

Keywords: theatre troupe, actor, Nukha Theatre, spectacle, director, honored artist, repertoire, drama.

Introduction

The socio-political and socio-economic events that took place in Azerbaijan in the second half of the nineteenth century led to the development of the enlightenment movement in the country. The rapid development of the oil industry at that time made Azerbaijan a high developed country in the South Caucasus. Significant changes in the economic life of the country also caused significant changes in the literary and cultural life. Millions of dollars from the oil industry demanded changes in form and content in literature and arts, as in other fields. As a result, the second half of the nineteenth century was remembered in the history of Azerbaijan as a period of cultural achievements and the flourishing of art. That period was also memorable for the Azerbaijani theater with important events. At that period, Mirza Fatali Akhundzadeh, a prominent public figure and the founder of Azerbaijani drama, played an important role in the establishment of the national theater. His plays, perfect in content and idea, turned the Azerbaijani Folk Theater into a perfect professional theater. Although Mirza Fatali Akhundzadeh was the first Azerbaijani playwright, his works did not lag behind the classics of world drama in any way and played a key role in the Azerbaijani national enlightenment movement. He was a member of the Russian Imperial Geographical Society as a writer-enlightener, philosopher-materialist, public figure, and the creator of dramaturgy and systematic literary criticism in Azerbaijani literature. He is rightly called the “Moliere of Muslims” in the world drama. It was pleasant that Mirza Fatali Akhundzadeh's comedies attracted the attention of the Azerbaijani society as they were rich in national elements, and a national theater was established on the basis of his comedies. On March 10, 1873, the foundation of the Azerbaijan National Theater was laid on the stage of the Baku Public Society (Baku Real School. K.A.) with the first performance of Mirza Fatali Akhundzadeh's “Adventure vizier-khani Lankaran” (“Sarguza§ti vaziri-xaniLankaran”). It is important to note that Mirza Fatali Akhundzadeh was born in 1812 in Nukha Later in 1964, according to the administrative-territorial system of Azerbaijan SSR Sheki. (Sheki). After Baku, the theatrical movement spread to different regions of Azerbaijan, and in Nukha (Sheki), in the great playwright's hometown, the theater was founded in 1879 with the performance of the comedy “Haji Gara” by the great theater lovers and M.F. Akhundzadeh's fans. In the following years of its development, in 1936, the Nukha (Sheki) Theater became a professional State Theater, and in the 142-year history of its glorious development, all stages of the theater's development were remembered with significant theatrical events.

The theatrical movement that began in Baku in 1873 later spread to other cultural centers of the country and resulted in the establishment of several theaters. One of them was the Sheki Theater, which appeared in the 30s-40s of the 20^th century. We are informed from the study of the prominent theatrical critic J. Jafarov that “after the performances of the Baku Real School, performances were staged in Guba in 1875 and in Sheki in 1879” [1, p. 25]. A. Abdullayev, a researcher of the literary heritage of the prominent enlightener Rashid bey Efendiyev, confirms these notes of the study as follows: “Rashid had heard that Mirza Fatali Akhundzadeh from Nukha, who lived in Tbilissi (Georgia) and held a high position in the courthouse, had great respect and authority. Rashid bey asked Mirza Fatali Akhundzadeh to send him to a military school. Mirza Fatali wanted R. Efendiyev to enter the Gori Seminary and help the cultural progress of his people. Later, Rashid Bey wrote about his memoirs: `He did not advise me to go to military school.

However, he said to me that the following year, a Tatar branch would be opened in Gori only for Muslims, and that school was very suitable for you. I would enlist you there. Then he gave me a copy of his comedies and said which one we liked, we could gather there and stage the novel. I followed his instructions. In 1879, we made a stage in one of the cocoon storages in the city of Nukha and played `Haji Gara' (Adventure-Mardi-Khasis' `Sarguzati mardi-xasis)" [2, p. 3-4]. In the following years, the history of the theater in Nukha underwent an interesting way development. Since the purpose of this article is not to follow the history of Sheki theater, we intend to emphasize the main points by showing the role of the theater in the cultural life of the city (meaning the city of Nukha. K. A.) in the 30s of the 20^th century.

The object of the research is a complex study of the Nukha Theatre in the 30s-40s of the 20^th century, and analysis of directors and actors of the theatre, staged plays, and various aspects of its activity is the subject of the study.

The research hypothesis and aim. The aim of the research is to draw attention to the development of the Sheki Theatre in the 30s-40s of the 20^th century, and the role of the theatre in the cultural life of the city. To achieve this goal, following hypothesis have been fulfilled:

1. Analysis of the content and essence of socio-political conditions in which the theatre began to operate;

2. To acquaint the readers with the actors and directors and the repertoire of the theatre during the research period;

3. Analysis of the problems and difficulties which the theatre faced in the 30s-40s of the 20^th century in the context of the theater environment.

The presented research paper is distinguished by scientific innovation. We mention with full confidence that the development of the Nukha Theater in the 1930s-1940s has not been a research direction until this research work. There was a little information about the activity of the Nukha Theatre in research papers written by some specialist in drama study and theatrical critics (prof. Ilham Rahimli, prof. Ingilab Kerimov, prof. Jafar Jafarov, and prof. Gulam Mammadli) about the history of the development of the Azerbaijani theatre. The first study of the history of the development of the Nukha Theatre in the 30s-40s of the 20^th century in a comprehensive and concrete direction belongs to the author of these lines. The scientific novelty of the research is related to the problem arising from the content of the work. For the first time, the activity of the Nukha Theatre in the 30s-40s of the 20^th century is brought to the readers' attention in a wide aspect via this research paper.

Methods. The method and methodology of the research is a systematic-dynamic approach to the problem, and a historical-analytical method on the requirements of cultural studies. The research base is articles written about the Sheki Theatre during the research period, theoretical works of Azerbaijani theater scholars, and documents from the Azerbaijan State Archive of Literature and Art reflecting the activities of the Sheki Theater in the 30s-40s.

Results

The Nukha Theatre, being an activity and drama circle for ages, became an official state theatre due to the decision of the local and central organizations in 1932. It was written about the opening of the theatre in the 28 December 1933 issue of “Goncii” newspaper (“Young worker”): “On September 20, according to the decision of the Nation's Commissariat of Education and the Trade Union Council, a group of actors of the Azerbaijan Turkish Bedaye Theater was assigned here. On October 3, 27 workers together with an artistic troupe came to Nukha from Baku and the old club started to be named the Nukha State Theatre” [3, p. 2]. The new actor troupe of the theatre started to work hard since the first day, and a number of successes were achieved. The “Yeni yol” (“New Way”) newspaper periodically informed readers about several achievements of the theatre. It was written about this theatrical event in the 6 September 1933 issue of the newspaper: “Last year (it was meant the year 1932. K. A.), the theatre did great things and achieved a number of successes inspite of being in the period of organizing. According to the production plan, the theatre performed 24 spectacles a month. Ten of them were performed in the central club, six in the third plant, four in the Qishlag plant, two in the Women's club, and two spectacles in the collective farm of Oxud village. Additionally, the promotion group of the theatre regularly (twice a decade) served to the workers on the lunch break at the plants. The theatre participated actively in all political-agricultural companies held in the city” [4, p. 3].

Great plays like “The Storm” (“Tufan”), “Honesty and Anger” (“Namus va qazab”) (Alexander Shirvanzade), “In 1905” (“1905-ci ilda”) (Jafar Jabbarli), “Sheikh Sanan” (“§eyx Sanan”) (Huseyn Javid), “Othello” (“Otello”) and “Hamlet” (“Hamlet”) (Shakespeare) were staged in the repertoire of the theatre in 1932, and a renowned stage master Abbas Mirze Sharifzadeh performed actively in the spectacles.

As we know, the theatre in Azerbaijan faced the problem of actor or actresses since the first day of its institution. The illiteracy and ignorance in Azerbaijan postponed the solution of an imperative issue like “Azerbaijani women on the stage” for a long time. However, the newly founded Sheki Theatre successed the settlement of this important and difficult issue. In 1932, thanks to the hard work of the board of producers of the theatre, women like Firoza, Maral, Sariyya became talented actresses of the theatre by throwing their headscrafs (chadra). Ramazanov, Arshad Talishli, Ismail Dagistanli, Samad Tagizadeh, Alasgar, and others, who graduated from the theatre college, gained the love of the people and worked hard for the development of the theatre in the 1930s, which is under study.

In the 1930s, the intellectuals had to cope with very difficult and responsible tasks. They had to work all day to take any kind of obstacles preventing socialist culture and to make this culture as a sharp weapon in the new renovation work, and they tried to disseminate new life and new culture and to wake ignorant people up. Just on this period, the work of theatre was of special importance. The stage figures successed to raise the popularity of the theatre work among people day by day, by showing the struggle between old and new; evil and good and by forming the cultural environment by promoting the culture.

Bakhshali Akhundov, a famous intellectual of Nukha, played an important role in this area. By remembering Bakhshali Akhundovas a talented actor, a teacher, and a sincere intellectual, ². Dagistani, who was the coryphaeus of the Azerbaijani stage, wrote: “In 1924-25, Aydin' and `Oktay Eloglu' were staged successfully on the stage of the Nukha Theatre. These works were staged by a renowned teacher and stage figure of progressive intellectuals of Nukha Bakhshali Akhundov. Bakhshali Akhundov intentionally came to Baku, to his friend Jafar Jabbarli to get those novels and copied those plays in his house.

He was himself a professional actor. Personally, I started my career as an actor under his leadership. Except me, actors like Ismail Osmanli, Samad Tagizadeh, Aliovsat Sadigov, Mustapha Sarkarov, and Hajioglu were thankful to B. Akhundov for their attainments” [5, p. 56-8].

These notes are very useful not only for the history of the theatre, but also for the history of the literature. Thus, so far, none of the literary critics who have written about Jafar Jabbarli's life has stated about friendly relationship between him and Bakhshali Akhundov.

A theatrical critic T. Kazimov, who wrote about Ismail Osmanli, one of the stars of the Sheki Theatre, emphasized especially Bakhshali Akhundov's role in Ismail Osmanli's upbringing: “Drama circles were instituted and started to work in the cities and villages of our republic. One of those kinds of circles was in Sheki. Ismail participated in the trainings of the drama circle and longingly watched the performance of the stage amateurs of Sheki. He himself said about that: `I used to go to the trainings in the Sheki drama circle. I really enjoyed watching amateurs' trainings. I was observing each participant's way of speech and stage manners; then I never forgot about them. After trainings, I repeated any role by myself anywhere at streets, at markets, or at home and trained when I was alone. Especially musical comedies were staged here. Sometimes I wanted to ask the circle director to let me perform any role, but I was not courageous enough to do it. Gradually, I was considered as one of the main members of the circle. One day, the director of the House of Culture, Bakhshali Akhundov called me and offered me to work as a secretary of the circle. I flied to the moon. I am very grateful to this nice man. Bakhshali Akhundov was my first stage master... B. Akhundov was opposed to any rude stage manner and treatment. He demanded amateurs to act their roles naturally. Except trainings, he had interesting conversations with us about Azerbaijani, Russian, and Western literature for hours'” [6, p. 5-6].

Bakhshali Akhundov found several ways for the improvement of the Sheki amateur theatre circle. He appealed to Baku for the enhancement of the workers, and Mohsun Senani, one of the popular actors of the Azerbaijani stage, was invited to Sheki to stage a new play. Together with amateurs in Sheki, Mohsun Senani staged “The Nest of the Falcon” (“Lagtnyuvast”) by S.S. Akhundov. He himself acted the role of Amiraslanbey in this play.

In order to improve the role of the Nukha Theatre staff in the cultural movement, in the 1930s, Bakhshali Akhundov paid special attention to the staff's tour to different regions of Azerbaijan, and the Sheki drama circle constantly performed various plays in Agdam, Agdash, Goychay, and Ganja.

In the early 1930s, under the direction of the producer Bakhshali Akhundov, young actors first staged “Bahlul Dananda” (“Bahlul Dananda”). On this spectacle, the role of the first woman a maid was played by Samad Tagizadeh in the Sheki Theatre. This talented actor's role in the history of Azerbaijani theatre is undeniable. Professor Mehdi Mammadov wrote: “Inner warmth and temperament were more characteristic for Samad Tagizadeh. The interest in living with the inner world of the characters he created helps Samad Tagizade to be original in his art” [7, p. 44].

We also read in the article named “He did not leave the theatre...” (“O, teatrdan ayrtlmaytb...”) which describes the artistic way of this outstanding actor who took his first steps in the Sheki Theatre.

“Samad Tagizadeh was one of the capable members of the staff (The Sheki Theater was considered. K.A.). Since that time, he was fond of theatrical art and devoted his entire life to art. Samad Tagizadeh's professional career was related to the Nukha State Drama Theatre. He worked as an actor at this theatre in 1930-1935. The fame of the beautiful stage master, who grew up on the Sheki stage, became more and more widespread. The spectators adored him and watched his roles with excitement and admiration. Samad Tagizadeh went on his career in Ganja since 1935. He was invited to the Kirovabad State Drama Theatre” [8, p. 4].

Observing the influence of the Sheki Theatre on people during the period under study, the political regime used various covert obstacles to prevent the theatre's activities. The negative impact of Stalinism on cultural construction in the national republics was more noticed in the regions. The 1930s are also remembered as the years of political repression. This negative phenomenon, which affected every aspect of life, was not far from the theater.

We can read in the article “The Nukha Theatre has the right to live” (“Nuxa teatrosunun ya§amaga haqqt vardtr”) by an author named Q. Anvar, one of the theatre lovers in the 1930s, which was published in “Yeni yol” (“New Way”) newspaper: “Exceptionally all the organizations of the region ignored the work of the theatre, and no one helped it. The theatre had mainly financial problems. According to the approved financial report, the City Council had to pay 40,000 manats, the Trade Union 20,000 manats, the Industrial Cooperation 15,000 manats, the Comissariat of Education 25,000 manats. However, after the sudden decision, all organizations withdrew, and the City Council gave 25,000 manats instead of40.000 manats. The Industrial Cooperation and the Trade Union Council considered this work unnecessary. The People's Comissariat of Education still promises to send the money. It is interesting that the Trade Union Council in the person of Dadashov, offers to close the theatre and to institute promotion brigade instead” [4, p. 3].

The very low level of state care for the Nukha Theatre was also mentioned in the article by I. Nasir which was published in the 28 December 1933 issue of “Goncii” (“Young Worker”) newspaper: “The People's Comissariat of Education shared only 15,000 manats for the theatre in 1933. The theatre could only get 9,900 manats of that money. Undoubtedly, this amount was not enough for the newly founded theatre. Although representatives of the local trade union and the City Council for the meetings held at the theatre were asked, not a single person participated. The theatre noted 400-500 manats for each spectacle in its plan, but just 2 or 3 tickets were sold during the spectacle” [3, p. 2]. There were also some notes about the actors' welfare, lack of state care for them in the articles written about the Nukha Theatre in those years. Even the actors who came to Nukha from Baku were not provided with accommodation, and some of them were obliged to stay at the theatre due to the lack of housing.

The attitude towards the actors was criticized in the article named “For sake of a high-quality performance and organized audience” (“Yuksak keyfiyyatli tamaa va mutapkkil tamaagt ugrunda”) published in the 15 January 1934 issue of “Yeni yol” (“New Way”) newspaper: “...The actors were not paid their salary in time. All those reasons and actors' difficult conditions lead to their abandoning the theatre. Sadig Saleh, one of the outstanding actors of the theatre, dismissed his job and returned to Baku. Yunus Mammadov left the spectacles and worked as a singer at weddings. Hajioglu went on a `two-month tour' with the permission of three days” [9, p. 3].

However, despite the existing difficulties, the culture-loving staff of the theater persevered and drew up an interesting work plan for the 1933-1934 performance season. For the current season, plays like “The Fire” (S. Rustam and H. Hazarli), “Yashar”, “Sevil” (J. Jabbarli), “The Sofa” (Simovski), “Haji Kara” (M.F. Akhundov), and “An Indian Girl”, “Sheikh Sanan” (H. Javid) were included to the repertoire.

Despite the successes of the theatre, the failure in the first performances and actors' incompetence were illustrated in the columns about the history of the Sheki Theatre. Take an example, people did not understand the meaning of Ugur's (Hajioglu) speech in “Sheikh Sanan”. Mohammadamin in “Dali Darvish”, Samad Tagizadeh in “Sheikh Sanan”, and Babayev in “Sheikh Mervan” could not act their roles successfully. The staff were not successful in the play “In 1905” by J. Jabbarli. Particularly, the main characters of the play Sevil (Ramziyya) and Gulush (Sariyya) were completely unsuccessful. Undoubtedly, these failures were forgivable for the staff just taken their steps on the stage of life.

The period of rapid development of theatrical life in Sheki began in 1936. In that year, a group of students of the Azerbaijan theatre school: Boyukkhanum Akhundova, Yusif Valiyev, Gafar Gafarov, Kamil Gubushov, Mezahir Amirov, Gulrukh Zahidova, Zahid Zeynalli, Alisattar Yusifzadeh, Mammad Mammadov, Khalide Mammadova, Sarkhan Mustafayev, Alimammad Novruzov, Rza Sarabski, Hajibaba Salimov, Mammad Khaligov, Abbas Huseynov, Maharram Javanshirov, Faraj Javanshirov, Kheyransa Shabayeva and others graduated from the school and were sent to Sheki to establish a theatre. Starting their professional career in the Sheki Theatre, each of those artists later became stars of Azerbaijani art. A number of articles were published about one of the renowned actors of the Sheki Theatre Yusif Valiyev's achievements in his career who started in Sheki. A. Agamirov, a theatre critic, mentioned this great actor's roles for the Sheki Theatre while describing his life and career in his article named “He was a top in the world of art...” (“Sanat dunyasmda bir qocaman dag idi...”): “After graduating the theatre school named after M.F. Akhundov, Yusif Valiyev worked in the Sheki Theatre for 10 years and very soon became the spectators' lovely actor. His roles like Aydin, Oktay, Elkhan and others which he acted on the stage of this theatre hold an honorable place in the history of the Sheki Theatre” [10, p. 4]. Aslan Kenan, a theatre critic, also wrote following about Y. Valiyev's activity in the Sheki Theatre: “Y. Valiyev started his career in the Nukha Folk Theatre named after Sabir (now it is the Sheki Theatre named after S. Rahman) performing the role of Vaska in the play At the Bottom of the Life' (`Hayatm darinliyinda') by M. Gorki” [11, p. 4]. Highly appreciating Yusif Valiyev's acting skills, Professor Ilham Rahimli wrote: “Yusif Valiyev was an artist who tried to polish the ordinary fairy tale genre with deep drama, and he skillfully used complex stylistic elements and courageously achieved his goal. He sensitively used genre synthesis in the performance of complex roles, and depending on the situation,he prefered either psychological, dramatic or tragic elements” [12, p. 393].

Ilham Rahimli and Jalil Khalilov, outstanding theatre critics, paid special attention to the history of the Sheki Theatre in their study on the history of Azerbaijani theatre. The critics' article named “The Stars of Sheki Stage” (“§aki sahnasinin ulduzlart”) is an illuminator for the study of the history of the theatre in Sheki from 1936 to 1949. In the article, the role of the newly-founded theatre in the cultural life of Sheki was illustrated as follows: “A real revival began in the cultural life of the city with the foundation of a new theatre. During the preparation for the opening, the actors kept in touch institutions, farms, schools, and orphanages of the region, gave concerts with a rich program, and made citywide mass events more interesting with their performances. They fostered the city pioneer house, and staged new plays in drama circles held in schools or colleges” [13, p. 4].

From the first day of its establishment, the composition of the theatre was enriched with local actors, and talented young people joined the actor troupe of the theatre with the help of Hasan Aliyev, Ibrahim Azeri, Tulhud Gasimov, Tamara Karimova, Bilgeyis Alasgarova, Shireli Allahyarov, Alashraf Guliyev, Rzabala Rzayev, Mammadkabir Hajioglu, Sariyya Hasanova, Sima Hidayetzadeh, Oktay Khalilov, Alimansur, Heybat Jafarov and others were talented actors invited from other theatres of the republic and among the people.

The staff were preparing for the official opening of the theatre with great responsibility. The preparation for the official opening took a year. This great company under the name of “The Nukha State Theatre is ready for the opening” was announced to the people in “Nukha worker” (“Nuxa igisi”) newspaper on February 11, 1937. The opening of the theatre was held on February 15 with the comedy of the prominent playwright N. Vazirov “Out of the pan into the fire” (“Yagi§dan gtxdtq, yagmura du§duk”). According to Rza Sarabski, one of the actors coming to Nukha, the preparation of the play for the opening of the Sheki Theatre had been planned in Baku. He wrote about it in the 11 February 1937 issue of “Nuxa iisi” newspaper: “When we left for Nukha, I was given the assistance and design of the play `Out of the pan into the fire'. I tried to get into the depth of the play as a laboratory assistant and a designer and to get acquainted withVazirov, the author of the play, and his environment. In order to learn about the characters of the play and heroes of Vazirov's period, I have learned a lot from `Molla Nasreddin'” [14, p. 3].

After the play “Out of the pan into the fire”, the staff of the Nukha Theatre staged the play “Plato Krechet” by Ukrainian playwright Alexander Korneychuk, which was renamed “Kartal Polad” by Ulvi Rajab and Mustafa Mardanov. The play was directed by Hasan Aliyev and was designed by the team of the producers. The main characters were acted by Boyukkhanum Akhundova, Yusif Valiyev, Kamil Qubushov, Mezahir Amirov, Khalide Mammadova, Serkhan Mustafayev, Alimammad Novruzov, Mammad Khaligov and Abbas Huseynov.

The role of Kartal Polad in the play was acted by a talented actor Kamil Qubushov. Without hiding his happiness, he expressed his impression about Polad: “Today, I am very happy of being an actor in the Nukha State Drama Theatre named after Sabir. I am going to play a great and responsible role like Kartal Polad in the play `Kartal Polad' by Korneychuk, and I have been working on this role for a long time” [14, p. 4].

While professionalizing, the talented staff, who wanted to test their strength in more serious works, addressed to Huseyn Javid's drama and started to prepare the play “Sheikh Senan” directed by Hasan Aliyev. Kamil Qubushov, and Serkhan Mustafayev (Sheikh Sanan), Boyukkhanum Akundova (Khumar), Yusif Valiyev (Platon) were assigned for the main roles. However, the stream of repression in 1937s did not let the actors realize their dreams.The great playwright was imprisoned with fake convictions, and his plays were forbidden to be read and staged in the theatre. The spectacle of the Sheki Theater was not implemented either.

The theatre was controlled by R. Ibrahimov and Aziz Azizov in 1938. In the same year, the theatre opened a new season with the play “Arshin mal alan” by great Uzeyir Hajibeyov. In 1938, the theatre had abetter repertoire than the previous year. A number of new plays like “Haji Gara” (“Haci Qara”), “In 1905”, “Hayat” (“Hayat”), “The Witch” (“Pari cadu”), “Innocent Guilty People” (“Gunahstz muqassirlar”), and “Honor” (“Namus”) and others were enlisted to the seasonal repertoire in 1938 [I, p. 168]. The repertoire plan of the theatre was defined according to the names of the plays, playwrights, languages, performing groups, and time of performance as follows.

The performance of the play “Hayat” in the Nukha State Drama Theatre was a great success. The play started to be played since March, 1938. We can read these lines about the achievements of the play from one of the spectators' comments published in “Nukha Worker” (“Nuxa iisi”) newspaper: “The workers in Nukha and collective farmers from the nearby villages have been curiously watching this play staged since March 9 in the Nukha State Drama Theatre named after Sabir. Every night, the auditorium is full until evening. Each time the people in the auditorium enthusiastically applaud the play and a group of actors working on the play. The staging of the play `Life' on the Nukha stage is a great and appreciated success” [15, p. 4].

Professor Ilham Rahimli, a prominent theater critic who highly appreciated the structure and acting of the play, wrote: “Jafar Jabbarli mainly wrote about the themes taken from modern life in the 1930s. After his premature death Jafar Jafar oglu Jabbarli, a prominent Azerbaijani Soviet playwright and the founder of Azerbaijani Soviet drama was born in 1899 in the village of Khizi in Baku and died in 1934 at the age of 35 from heart disease., there was a lack of modern dramas at the theatres. After Mirza Ibrahimov's play `Hayafiwhich was about rural life, was staged at the National Drama Theater in 1937, other art centers included this work in their repertoire. The play was staged by Hasan Aliyev at the Sheki Theater on the March 9, 1938. `Hayat' drew the attention by demonstrating not only an ideological and artistic honesty and a modern approach to the subject, but also the completeness of the artistic composition. There was an interesting group of actors in the play. The completeness of such a group ensured the main success of the play” [16, p. 384].

The repertoire plan of the Nukha State Drama Theatre for 1939, consisting of the following content, was approved according to the appeal of Aziz Azizov, the director of the Nukha State Drama Theatre, to Vakilov, the head of the theatrical department of the Department of Arts under the Azerbaijan Council of People's Commissars: “The Relatives” (“Qohumlar”) (G.A. Guliyev), “Folk's son” (“Xalq oglu”) (S. Mammadov), “Husband and Wife” (“drvoarvad”) (U. Hajibeyov), “Wedding” (“Toy”) (S. Rahman), “Fire bride” (“Od golini”) (J. Jabbarli), “Arshin mal alan” (U. Hajibeyov), “Khasay” (A. Shaig), “Hayat” (“Hoyat”) (M. Ibrahimov), and “Single while married” (“Evli ikon subay”) (Z. Hajibeyov) [I, p. 168]. As seen from the repertoire plan presented, in 1939 Mirza Ibrahimov's play “Hayat” was staged at the Sheki Theater for the second time. According to the information about the performance given by S. Mammadzadeh, it is clear “...theater (meaning Shaki Theater. K.A.) performed the play on November 7, 1939, in a new structure. The play was directed by Asad Jafarov (Talishoglu), artist Alasgar Bagirov, assistant director Mammad Khaligov, technical director Ibrahim Azeri. The main roles in the new structure were played by Mammadkabir Hajioglu and Ibrahim Azeri (Suleyman), Yusif Valiyev (Abbas), Gulam Goshgarli (Hasanov). Ayub Mammadov (Rauf), Mammad Khaligov (Mashadi Huseyn), Tamara Karimova (Atlas), Bakir Mammadov (Akif), Sariya Hasanova, S. Shahbazova (Hayat), T. Jafarova (Atlas), and Heybat Hummatov (Jalal) played. In this setting, Mammadkabir Hajioglu demonstrated more successful acting” [17, p. 4]. social political cultural sheki theater

A number of plays from Russian literature like “Lyubov' Yarovaya” (“Ëþáîâü ßðîâàÿ”) by K.A. Trenyov, “Full Rate” (“Î÷íàÿ ñòàâêà”) by Brother Tur and L.R. Sheynin, and also “Madrid” (“Madrid”) by Mirze Ibrahimov, “Vigilance” (“Saytqltq”) by Tairov, “Mastali Shah” (“Msstsli §ah”) by M. F. Akhundov, and “Cunning and love” (“Êîâàðñòâî è ëþáîâü”) by Schiller from German literature were intended to be played at the repertoire of the theatre for 1939 [I, p. 168]. On the March 31, 1939, it was registered as the Sheki State Drama Theater named after Sabir with the special registration of the Committee for Art Affairs under the USSR Council of People's Commissars. The theater was located in a two-storey club, built in 1902 and situated at Lenin street in Nukha. The area of the theater was 4275 m² [I, p. 168].

The comedies “Husband and Wife” (“dr vs arvad”) and “Arshin mal alan” (“Arm mal alan”) by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, and “Wedding” (“Toy”) by Sabit Rahman took an important place among the staged plays in 1939 in the Nukha Theatre. The comedy “Wedding” (“Toy”) was successfully staged by the talented actors' group of the theatre.The stage design of the play was directed by Hajibaba Salimov and he proudly talked about the structure of the play in the 42^nd issue of “Nukha worker” (“Nukha fehlesi”) newspaper: “I have been charged for the structure of this play. I have intented to learn all structural details of this play which illustrates the struggle for wealthy and happy collective farm life and to bring it to the level that will win the sympathy of the audience. I have cleaned the play from extra burden by reducing some episodes” [18, p. 4].

The role of Surkhay, who is a protagonist, was played by a talented actor Yusif Valiyev. Yusif Valiyev (Surkhay) played an important role in the process of educating collective farmers and the expansion of cultural-educational works among them. The role of Karamov, the antagonist of the play, was played by a talented actor Mammadkabir Hajioglu. Karamov is the chairman of the collective farm “Shafag” in a remote village in one of the mountainous regions. The audience can observe that Karamov as a relic of antiquity, considered his work done in the administration by behaving rudely, shouting, and writing a protocol per hour. Because of that, he was accustomed to say nonsense like “I will sue the whole collective farm”, and “I will put the whole village in prison” [18, p. 4]. The actor Mammadkabir Hajioglu was able to perform the real and vivid features of this character as it was. The audience also sympathetically accepted the role of Musa acted by the actor Ibrahim Azeri, Mirzehuseyn by M. Khaligov, and a 20-year-old Zinyat by the actress Tamara Karimova.

In 1939, the Nukha State Theatre also addressed to U. Hajibeyov's plays. On the January 23, 1939, the directorate of the theatre gave a special order to Salimov, the deputy chief director of the theatre, to stage the play “Arshin mal alan” (“Ar§in mal alan”) and to distribute the roles among actors [II, p. 35]. The distribution of the roles among actors was defined as follows. Mammadkabir Hajioglu (Asgar), Ismail Valiyev (Suleyman), Tamara Kerimova (Gulchohre), Tamara Hasanova (Asiye), Bilgeyis Alasgarova (Telli Manya), M. Khaligov (Soltan), Mustafayev (Veli), and Abdullayeva-Shabayeva (Jahan) gained the audience's sympathy by demonstrating high stage manners.

The three-act musical comedy “Husband and Wife” (“dr vs arvad”), which is one of the appealing plays of Uzeyir Hajibeyov's drama, was one of the most interesting spectacles in 1939. The play was directed by a chief producer Asad Jafarov. The graphic design was given by Alasgar Bagirov, and musical design was given by Muharram Ismayilov. Y. Valiyev and A. Ismayilov (Merjanbey), T. Karimova and Sh. Samadova (Minnetkhanum), Z. Abdullayeva and M. Aliyeva (Gulperi), Hajioglu and A. Aliyev (Keble Gubad), Bekir Mammadov (police officer), A. Mammadov (a gambler), A. Aliyev (Jafargulubey), Sh. A. Allahyarov and M. Khaligov (Qochu Agakerim), F. Shabayeva (a maid), A. Hasanov, S. Salamov, L. Aleksandr (servants), and Kh. Shabayeva and B. Alasgarova (Sherefnisa) demonstrated great acting skills in the performance of the play.

During these years, along with positive comments about the structure, design, and actors' performance, there were some critical notes in the periodicals about the limited geography of the theatre's activity, and a lack of covering all territory, offices and institutions of Sheki. For example, M. Jabbarov wrote about it in his article named “The play `Wedding' (`Toy') is being prepared” (“Toy haztrlantr”): “The different roles of the play `Wedding' (`Toy') had been distributed among actors and actresses. The role of Karamov, the chairman of the collective farm, was played by talented actors Hajioglu and Khaligov, the blacksmith Musa,who was the only economist, by Azeri, from stakhanovite collective farmers, Zalkha by Bilgeyis Alasgarova, Zinyet by Tamara Kerimova, Surkhay, the cultural worker of the farm, by Yusif Veliyev, Mirze Huseyn, accountant of the collective farm, by Ayyub and Bekir Mammadov and other actors acted in this play .

Meanwhile, it is imperative to mention that the Nukha State Drama Theater is obliged to provide cultural and artistic services to the workers of the silk factories and all the collective farmers of our region. However, unfortunately, the administration of the theatre has never been interested in this issue so far. Therefore, the theatre shows the play `Hayat', later plays Arshin mal alan' (`Ar§in mal alan') and `Khasay' (`Xasay'), which illustrate real farmers' life, only in the city center. However, these performances should be displayed at collective farms and factories” [18, p. 4].

On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the theater in Nukha was paralyzed. Therefore, the meeting of the staff of the Azerbaijan Art Department on December 15, 1940, revealed the short comings as well as the successes of the Nukha Theater. Speaking at the meeting, Mirza Ibrahimov, a playwright and a writer, criticized the activities of the Sheki Theater: “The comrades have not comprehended the importance of the issue in the Nukha Theatre. For instance, when we required the Nukha Theatre, we got the names of 19-20 plays for the repertoire for the first time. Later, we got the names of thirteen plays. However, you know that the Nukha theatre is able to perform ten premieres per day. We add eight of them to the repertoire. Performing thirteen plays in a satisfied way in the theatre is an evidence that the artistic parts of the play are not taken into consideration, and the director does not understand the essence of this issue or does not work enough on it” [III p. 252].

At the meeting of directors and art directors of the theatres of regions and the Republic of Azerbaijan on the 5-6 March, the Nukha theatre was sharply criticized. At the meeting, Rzayev, speaking about financial accounting and the state of financial work at the theatre, mentioned on his speech: “Let's move on to the topic of premiere of our theatres. Generally, the theatres have succeeded in planning and implementing the 192 premieres. However, several theatres have not been successful enough. The Nukha theatre has given none of them. There is a noticeable difference between the implementation of repertoire plan and implementation of general theatre plan. The Nukha Drama Theatre was supposed to cover 33,000 of spectators, but it covered 34,000. 111% of income plan completed” [III, p. 252]. The speaker Rzayev also criticized theatre directors' work in the person of the director of the Nukha theatre, accusing them implementing their duty improperly: “Art directors and directors should be attentive in the process of creating an actor. Directors think that only art directors are responsible for the issue of actors. However, it is not like that. Directors are the first responsible people in the theatre, and art directors are their first and close assistants. Art directors should never be given the whole responsibility for this issue. Directors should do it themselves” [IV, p. 80]. The shortcomings of the theatre also became the topic of discussion at the 6 March 1941 meeting of the council. Sharing his opinion about the musical design of plays in Nukha, Mammadov stated: “We have plenty of regional theatres that display low-quality plays. For example, I want to speak about the play `A five manat bride' (`Be§ manatliqgatin') in the district Nukha. The music of this play was composed in Nukha by themselves. Changing the music means doing low-quality and unplanned work. Low-quality work is considered defective. We sent a telegram about not performing this play anymore. You must display a play in a such way that spectators should be satisfied with it” [V, p. 83].

In August 1941, a well-known actor Mammadkabir Hajioglu was appointed the director of the Nukha State Drama Theater. The appointment of a talented and experienced person who had a great creative career on the stage, as the director of the Nukha Theater made an important turn in the work. M. Hajioglu's stage activity was highly appreciated by the state in 1940, and he was awarded the honorary title of Honored Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR dated April 23, 1940.

We read in the article “Life Dedicated to the Stage” (“Sahnaya hasr olunmu§ hayat”) by doctor-writer Lutfali Hasanov, a prominent representative of the Sheki literary environment in the 50s and 70s, who correctly evaluated the years of Mammadkabir Hajioglu's leadership of the Sheki State Drama Theater in terms of quality and content: “Mammadkabir Hajioglu was also engaged in large-scale organizational work in addition to his theatrical activities. He worked as the director of the Nukha State Drama Theater for a long time. During his tenure as a director, high-quality works were staged on the theater stage, and each new performance was highly appreciated by the audience. Hajioglu's active and productive work was reflected in the honorary degrees and certificates he received at that time” [19, p. 3].

The year when Mammadkabir Hajioglu was appointed the director of the Sheki State Drama Theater was the most difficult period of his life. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany treacherously attacked the USSR, violating its non-aggression agreementwith the Soviet Union. Azerbaijani workers, together with the entire Soviet people, supported their socialist homeland. From the first days of the war, some actors of the Nukha Theater had to replace the stage with a battlefield. Like other theaters in the country, the Sheki State Theater dedicated its work to the victory over fascism since the early days of the war. 19411945 entered the history of the Nukha State Drama Theater as a period of rich and intense creativity with a humanistic and patriotic spirit. In these years, the theatre enriched with new themes and images related to realizm and modernism. In terms of theatrical ideas in these years, rose even more from the standpoint of realism and modernity. It is impossible not to see the richness while turning the pages of the book of orders given by M. Hajioglu in 1941-1942. In those years, “The Son of the Land”, “Stranger's Son”, “The Den of the Lion”, “Vagif”, “Ashig Garib”, “Five-Pence Bride”, “Honor of the Homeland”, “Polad Qartal”, “Farhad ve Shirin”, ”Happy People”, “Happiness”, “Asli and Karam”, “Kachak Nabi ”, “Nizami”, “Mashadi Ibad”, in 1943, “Almaz” (J. Jabbarli), “Love” (M. Ibrahimov), and “The Attack Continues” (S. Rahman), in 1944-1945, “Love and revenge” (S. Akhundov), “Anxiety” (M. Huseyn and I. Efendiyev) and other works were staged. Also, in the repertoire of the theater in the 40s, “Haji Gara”, “Molla Ibrahimkhalil Kimyager” (M.F. Akhundov), “Unlucky young man” (A. Hagverdiyev), “In 1905”, “Sevil”, “Aydin”, “Bride of Fire”, “Oktay

Eloglu”, “Pale Flowers” (J. Jabbarli), “Husband and wife”, “Let it be so” (U. Hajibeyov), “Married Single” (Z. Hajibeyov), “Spring” (M. Tahmasib), “Maiden Tower” (R. Shahvalad), “Under the Prague chestnut trees” (K. Simonov), “Holiday” (S. Akhundov) and other works also took an important place.

During the war, the collective had a tour to Zagatala in 1941-1942, to Vartashen in 1942, to Aghdam in 1943, to Aghdash and Gakh in 1944, and to Yevlakh and Kurdamir in 1945, according to the instructions of the Art Department under the People's Commissars of Azerbaijan [VI, p. 1].

In order to effectively organize young people's leisure time and to educate them in a patriotic spirit, on school children's winter holidays in 1945, two scenes of the work “Lion's Den”, “Aydin”, and “Whose wedding is it?” were staged at the theatres.

During the years of the Great Patriotic War, which we studied, many of the theater's performances were remembered for their successful acting, despite their shortcomings. The actors and actresses played unforgettable roles on the stage, for example, Boyukkhanum Akhundova Hayat (“Hayat”) and Ediliya (“Sevil”), Jalil Bagdadbeyov Haji Gara (“Haji Gara”) and Mashadi Huseyn (“Hayat”), Yusif Valiyev Aydin (“Aydin”) and Alkhas bey (“Intizar”), Hokuma Gasimova Gultekin (“Aydin”), Kamil Gubushov Polad (“Polad Kartal”) and Balash (“Sevil”), Bilgeyis Alasgarova Zalkha (“Wedding”), Khalida Mammadova Gulush (“Sevil”) and Telli (“Arshin mal alan”), Salkhan Mustafayev Bahadur bey (“In 1905”) and Archil (“Honor of the Motherland”), Alimammad Novruzov Pardon Gurbanali (“Hayat”) and Veli (“Arshin mal alan”), Mammad Khaligov Atakishi (“Sevil”) and Amiraslan bey Salamov (“In 1905)”.

“Anxiety”, cowritten play by Huseyn Mehdi and Ilyas Efendiyev, was staged at the Nukha Theatre during the war years, and was more memorable with its success. A prominent literary critic Mammad Arif expressed his impressions of the play's performance in his article “Anxiety” as follows: “`Anxiety' written by H. Mehdi and I. Efendiyev was favorable play for actors. There are natural human characteristics that are revealed through relatively quiet conversations, inner, psychological movements, and feelings as complex as life itself. Such works give stage workers a wide range of creative opportunities. I noticed this, especially in the cast of the Nukha State Drama Theater. From the comrade Mikayil Agayev, who is the artistic director of the theater, to practiitooners, everyone is interested in the impact of the play, learns the attitude of the audience and at the same time, tries not to fall into the applause of the public. At this theatre, three things draw attention: stage unity, seriousness of the play and purity of language” [20, p. 4]. Giving an objective assessment of the work and repertoire of the theater's acting group, Rza Shahvalad writes in his article “At the Nukha State Drama Theater”: “Nukha, one of the oldest cities and cultural centers of Azerbaijan, can be proud of its new Soviet intellectuals and growing theater. Nukha Theater copes with large and complex works with young and beautiful stage masters such as honored Artist of the Republic Mammadkabir Hajioglu, Yusif Valiyev, actresses Shirinbaji Jafarova, Hokuma Ismayilova, Bilgeyis Alasgarova” [21, p. 3]. A theater critic Aslan Kanan writes about Yusif Valiyev in his notes that the image of Alkhas Bey who he created in the play “Anxiety” written by M. Huseyn and I. Efendiyev attracted the attention of our prominent artist Kazim Ziya, and he helped Y. Valiyev to come to Baku to the Young Spectators Theater.

The attitude to Jafar Jabbarli's dramaturgy was the leading theme of the repertoire of the Nukha State Drama Theater. As mentioned above, the play “Pale Flowers” by the famous playwright was first performed at the Nukha State Drama Theater in 1949. The production director M. Jahangir tried to deliver “Pale Flowers” to the audience with natural, simple colors and to prove that the money, that Jabbarli hated, brought bad luck to human in the capitalist society, and he succeeded. And how did “Pale Flowers” first appear in Nukha? Jahangir Aslan oglu, the director of the play, connected it with the requirements of the time and said: “In order to educate the youth in a correct way and to demonstrate the dominance of money over man, we prepared Jafar Jabbarli's `Pale Flowers' for the performance in 1949. `Pale flowers' was performed for 20 days” [22, p. 10].

H. Gasimova (Ismayilova) played the role of Sara as the protagonist of the work. The actress Gasimova said in an interview with a researcher at the Central State Archive of Literature and Art of the Republic: “All performances of `Pale Flowers' were held with great excitement. The director of the play, Jahangir Muallim, even painted the actors' clothes in accordance with the color of the pale flowers, a memory of Sarah's failed love. `Pale Flowers' was performed at the theatre for a long time and was greeted with sympathy every time. I loved playing Sarah with all my being” [22, p. 11].

In the second half of the 1940s, the activity of the orchestra of folk instruments at the Sheki State Drama Theater was one of the reasons of people's love and massive flow to the theatre. The musicians and soloists of the orchestra were well-known tar players and singers not only in Sheki, but also in the republic.

In August 1948, Mammadiya Jabbarov was appointed the director of the Nukha State Drama Theater. Several new works such as “Malikmammad”, “Friends” (S. Akhundov), “Holiday” (S. Akhundov), “Spring Waters” (I. Efendiyev), “Congratulations”, “On the banks of the Kur”, “Red Tie” and others were included to the new repertoire of the theater. The change of directors at short intervals was due to the stagnation of the theater's activities.

According to the information given on January 1, 1948, 65 people worked at the theatre, and seven of them had high education (Mikayil Agayev, Zahid Malikov, Zahid Zeynalli, Agasi Mashadibeyov, Hajiaga Guliyev, Nina Bogamolova, Rafael Kostanyan), twenty-two of them had secondary education, and thirty-six of them did not have perfect education by graduating from different classes [VII, p. 168].