Kyrgyz State Puppet Theatre named after M. Zhangaziev

The puppet theater in Kyrgyzstan was established for the first time in 1938.

For a long time, Kyrgyz children, as well as many adults, loved performances featuring a dancing wooden goat. The Kyrgyz also had other games reminiscent of various forms of puppetry. The most famous and beloved entertainer at the beginning of our century, a master of such games and an enthusiast of puppet theater, was Adamkaly Baybatyrov, who performed puppet shows for audiences even before the establishment of a professional puppet theater in Kyrgyzstan.

M.P. Volkova made significant contributions to the organization of the theater. She was the artistic director, director, and actress of the newly established theater. She wrote plays for children and played roles.

The performance based on Naidenova's play became the very first gift of the new puppet theater to its audience and friends - the children of our republic. The first play by a Kyrgyz author staged at the theater was a fairy tale by the talented Kyrgyz director O. Sarbagyshev.

In 1945, the theater welcomed director and playwright Viktor Alexandrovich Shvemberger. Like M.P. Volkova, he passionately loved his work, and with his arrival, significant efforts were made with the theater's actors, and special training was organized to continuously improve the professional skills of the artists, teaching them the theory and practice of the complex profession of puppeteer, the creation of interesting characters, and good performances.

Over time, the repertoire of the young theater became increasingly rich.

Thus, a play was written by V.A. Shvemberger in collaboration with translator and playwright K. Eshmambetov, which has not left the theater's stage to this day.

Every year of the theater's life is filled with tireless searches and daily labor. The fate of the theater is the fate of the enthusiastic people who have tied their lives to it. Today, the Republican Puppet Theater is a favorite among the children of our country. After all, a puppet performance is the first introduction of children to the art of the stage. In childhood, the foundations of perceiving the world of beauty, the world of theater, are laid. The education of the culture of the future individual begins.

Shakespeare and Pushkin, Andersen and Wilde, Perrault and Mikhalkov, Djantoshev and Aitmatov, Bektenov and Abdumomunov adorn the theater's repertoire. New names of young playwrights appear on the posters, just as the now-established playwright Jalil Sadykov once began, who literally grew up and became a playwright in the puppet theater. Nine performances based on his plays have been staged over 30 years on the puppet stage, and the tenth premiere recently took place, "The Dream of the Nightingale." More than 300 performances have been staged in total. B. Omuraliev, M. Taibayev, E. Musaev, Zh. Kulmanbetov, Zh. Saalaev, Zh. Aitkuliev closely and fruitfully collaborate with the theater, offering their interesting works for children.

A significant contribution to its formation and development was made by the actors and actresses of the first generations who stood at the origins of the theater. Among them were K. Algodzhoev, A. Anchrova, D. Boshkoeva, A. Usoltseva, N. Samorodov, L. Demina, A. Janaliev, E. Polotskaya, V. Zinovyeva, A. Algodzhoeva, N. Abdykerimov, R. Polyakova, M. Shcherban, T. Starzhinskaya, and many others.

Currently, the theater's team consists of artists from different generations. The older generation of the team, its main strength, includes Erkimbaev, Kachkynova, Matveev, Moskaleva, Shikmatova, Musaev, and Imanalieva. Alongside the masters, talented youth such as Vishnevskaya, Savinkova, Maylybaeva, Kosov, and others are now working.

For 20 years, the theater has been headed by Kubanychbek Aliev, a distinguished cultural figure of the Kyrgyz Republic and a member of the International Association of Puppet Theaters UNIML.

The puppet theater, the first of the theaters in our republic, has opened a "window" to the outside world, successfully touring Central America, Africa, Asia, and Europe, performing about 200 shows in Arabic and Dari, Spanish and French, Mongolian languages, so that young audiences could understand the Kyrgyz sorcerers of puppets.

The theater has toured in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

“In dialogue with the audience, the Theater tirelessly follows the great spiritual precepts, carefully and tenderly nurturing the future Human and citizen. It constantly strives to create performances for adult audiences as well. Our team always remembers that a true theater must be socially active. With deep interest, it sets itself relevant strategic tasks: to be a center for the creation, preservation, and dissemination of the best achievements of national and world puppet theater, a center for aesthetic and spiritual education of the young citizens of Kyrgyzstan, a center for preserving the traditions and achievements of the spiritual and material culture of the Kyrgyz people, a center for festival and touring activities, a center for conducting artistic and cultural events, an experimental base for creative and educational projects, and a center for charitable activities.” — Director of the theater Satylgan Sazaev

Phone: +996 (312) 67-06-41, 67-06-17
Fax: +996 (312) 67-06-47
E-mail: [email protected]
Bishkek, Abdrahmanov Street, 230