By Gowri Ramnarayan - Frontline - India
Volume 24 - Issue 02: Jan. 27/Feb. 09, 2007
Interview with Uzbek director Ovlyakuli Khojakuli
A shaven head streaming with plaited strands, ear and finger rings, a chain with an "Om" pendant, a wrist band... Ovlyakuli Khojakuli cannot but turn eyes towards him wherever he goes. More, the man breathes alertness.
Born in Turkmenistan where he studied theatre, Khojakuli went on to work in Uzbekistan with different theatre groups. He specialises in adapting Central Asian audio-visual and story-telling traditions in his modern productions.
His interest in Sufism and poetry made him dramatise works such as "Seven Tourists" by Central Asian poet Alisher Navoi, and "Conference of the Birds" by 12th century Persian mystic Fariduddin Attar.
His film Oedipus had a Turkmenistan cast. Khojakuli's striking imagery has attracted international attention.
Did you have a choice in this project?
Yes.
Why did you choose Medea?
Medea is one of the most challenging characters in Greek mythology. She represents the problems of all women faced with difficult choices. She had a big love in her life. She believed in the sanctity of marriage, motherhood, home-making. Betrayed by Jason, her faith turns to fury.
Her decision to kill her children is not an easy one, not done on the spur of the moment. It was a considered choice to do what she thought was right - for the children, and the world. She did not want them to grow up like Jason, become oppressors and contaminate the earth.
These were the issues I wanted to show on the stage and open out for discussion. Show why she did what she did. Was she prompted by love? Wrath? Vengefulness? I needed very strong acting from the actor to realise my goal. Medea's decision is one of the most powerful decisions in Greek mythology.
(...)
Your dialogues are modulated to create an incantative kind of opera. Why?The characters are so strong and highly charged with emotions. So I evolved this way of delivery - not music, not rhetoric but a scream. Tragedy should be like a prayer of despair. Of course, actors had trouble doing this, but we did manage.
What was the most difficult thing in this production for you?
It was the problem of working with actors from different theatres and groups, each with his/her own ways of doing things. To bring them together and make them work as a team was tough.
This first show is raw. A few more shows and the actors will become stronger, more sensitive.
How was it to work in a trilogy, sharing space with other directors?In theatre, the director is the head of the team. Here we had three heads! So the director has to do what he should never do: compromise. At times it became more important than the final product. But we will work more now...
[see also: http://sufinews.blogspot.com/search?q=medea]
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
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Wednesday, January 31, 2007
`We Had Three Heads'
Volume 24 - Issue 02: Jan. 27/Feb. 09, 2007
Interview with Uzbek director Ovlyakuli Khojakuli
A shaven head streaming with plaited strands, ear and finger rings, a chain with an "Om" pendant, a wrist band... Ovlyakuli Khojakuli cannot but turn eyes towards him wherever he goes. More, the man breathes alertness.
Born in Turkmenistan where he studied theatre, Khojakuli went on to work in Uzbekistan with different theatre groups. He specialises in adapting Central Asian audio-visual and story-telling traditions in his modern productions.
His interest in Sufism and poetry made him dramatise works such as "Seven Tourists" by Central Asian poet Alisher Navoi, and "Conference of the Birds" by 12th century Persian mystic Fariduddin Attar.
His film Oedipus had a Turkmenistan cast. Khojakuli's striking imagery has attracted international attention.
Did you have a choice in this project?
Yes.
Why did you choose Medea?
Medea is one of the most challenging characters in Greek mythology. She represents the problems of all women faced with difficult choices. She had a big love in her life. She believed in the sanctity of marriage, motherhood, home-making. Betrayed by Jason, her faith turns to fury.
Her decision to kill her children is not an easy one, not done on the spur of the moment. It was a considered choice to do what she thought was right - for the children, and the world. She did not want them to grow up like Jason, become oppressors and contaminate the earth.
These were the issues I wanted to show on the stage and open out for discussion. Show why she did what she did. Was she prompted by love? Wrath? Vengefulness? I needed very strong acting from the actor to realise my goal. Medea's decision is one of the most powerful decisions in Greek mythology.
(...)
Your dialogues are modulated to create an incantative kind of opera. Why?The characters are so strong and highly charged with emotions. So I evolved this way of delivery - not music, not rhetoric but a scream. Tragedy should be like a prayer of despair. Of course, actors had trouble doing this, but we did manage.
What was the most difficult thing in this production for you?
It was the problem of working with actors from different theatres and groups, each with his/her own ways of doing things. To bring them together and make them work as a team was tough.
This first show is raw. A few more shows and the actors will become stronger, more sensitive.
How was it to work in a trilogy, sharing space with other directors?In theatre, the director is the head of the team. Here we had three heads! So the director has to do what he should never do: compromise. At times it became more important than the final product. But we will work more now...
[see also: http://sufinews.blogspot.com/search?q=medea]
Labels:
art and arts,
interview
By Gowri Ramnarayan - Frontline - IndiaVolume 24 - Issue 02: Jan. 27/Feb. 09, 2007
Interview with Uzbek director Ovlyakuli Khojakuli
A shaven head streaming with plaited strands, ear and finger rings, a chain with an "Om" pendant, a wrist band... Ovlyakuli Khojakuli cannot but turn eyes towards him wherever he goes. More, the man breathes alertness.
Born in Turkmenistan where he studied theatre, Khojakuli went on to work in Uzbekistan with different theatre groups. He specialises in adapting Central Asian audio-visual and story-telling traditions in his modern productions.
His interest in Sufism and poetry made him dramatise works such as "Seven Tourists" by Central Asian poet Alisher Navoi, and "Conference of the Birds" by 12th century Persian mystic Fariduddin Attar.
His film Oedipus had a Turkmenistan cast. Khojakuli's striking imagery has attracted international attention.
Did you have a choice in this project?
Yes.
Why did you choose Medea?
Medea is one of the most challenging characters in Greek mythology. She represents the problems of all women faced with difficult choices. She had a big love in her life. She believed in the sanctity of marriage, motherhood, home-making. Betrayed by Jason, her faith turns to fury.
Her decision to kill her children is not an easy one, not done on the spur of the moment. It was a considered choice to do what she thought was right - for the children, and the world. She did not want them to grow up like Jason, become oppressors and contaminate the earth.
These were the issues I wanted to show on the stage and open out for discussion. Show why she did what she did. Was she prompted by love? Wrath? Vengefulness? I needed very strong acting from the actor to realise my goal. Medea's decision is one of the most powerful decisions in Greek mythology.
(...)
Your dialogues are modulated to create an incantative kind of opera. Why?The characters are so strong and highly charged with emotions. So I evolved this way of delivery - not music, not rhetoric but a scream. Tragedy should be like a prayer of despair. Of course, actors had trouble doing this, but we did manage.
What was the most difficult thing in this production for you?
It was the problem of working with actors from different theatres and groups, each with his/her own ways of doing things. To bring them together and make them work as a team was tough.
This first show is raw. A few more shows and the actors will become stronger, more sensitive.
How was it to work in a trilogy, sharing space with other directors?In theatre, the director is the head of the team. Here we had three heads! So the director has to do what he should never do: compromise. At times it became more important than the final product. But we will work more now...
[see also: http://sufinews.blogspot.com/search?q=medea]
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