The closing ceremony of the theatre festival “Garaşsyzlyk ganatym, Watanym – seždegähim” was held at the Main Academic Drama Theatre of Turkmenistan named after Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the Great.
Held annually, this creative festival is a professional celebration for everyone who has dedicated their lives to the stage. Playwrights, directors, composers, artists and, of course, actors are all deeply proud of their profession—a profession that teaches people how to live and how to find the right solutions in any situation, unites actors and audiences in a shared spirit of patriotism, and knows no barriers of time. Symbolically, the ceremony opened with the song “Artist”, performed by Tirkesh Matnazarov, the owner of a unique and powerful deep bass voice.
Nursakhet Shirimov, Deputy Minister of Culture of Turkmenistan, congratulated the festival participants on the conclusion of this unforgettable celebration and wished them continued creative success.
A video presentation featured the majestic facades of the theatres participating in the festival, interspersed with excerpts from the productions presented during the forum. In this way, spectators and participants were able to relive the heroic, joyful and dramatic stories that unfolded on theatre stages across the country during the first ten days of September. Before the audience’s eyes appeared the fearless army of Jalal al-Din Turkmen, a modern-day wedding on the shores of the Caspian Sea, the tragic moments of the Ashgabat earthquake, an operating room where patients are given a second chance at life, and many other scenes.
The hosts of the ceremony—well-known actors Batyr Charyyev and Dilshat Melyayeva—then proceeded to the most exciting part of the festival’s closing ceremony: the announcement of the winners in various categories.
To the applause of the audience, the Grand Prix was awarded to “Halk hakydasy”, a production of the National Drama Theatre of Turkmenistan named after Alp Arslan, directed by Handurdy Berdiyev.
First place was awarded to “Agzybirlik rowaýaty”, staged by the Aman Gulmammedov State Drama Theatre of the city of Arkadag and directed by Serdar Atayev.
Second place went to “Howandar”, presented by the Main Academic Drama Theatre of Turkmenistan named after Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the Great and directed by Eziz Ishangulyyev.
Third place was shared by “Türkmen soltany”, staged by the Kemine Mary Velayat Drama Theatre and directed by Ata Gullarov, and “Услышь меня!”, presented by the A.S. Pushkin State Russian Drama Theatre and directed by Bayram Garajayev.
The award for Best Actress was presented to Shemshat Kasymova, an actress of the Main Academic Drama Theatre of Turkmenistan named after Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the Great. The award for Best Playwriting was shared by two authors—Gadam Kakabaнev and Abdylasym Rejepov.
Oguljan Bekiyeva, an actress of the National Drama Theatre of Turkmenistan named after Alp Arslan, received the award for Best Supporting Role, while Begli Dovlyyev, an actor of the Nurmuhammet Andalib State Music and Drama Theatre of the Dashoguz velayat, was awarded the “Young Talent” prize.
Among the actors who received special commendation awards were Kakmyrat Bazarov, Bayramtach Hojamammedova, Maria Durdyyeva, Ziyada Kakaliyeva, Anna Melyayev, Nuryagdy Dovletov, and Gerchek Orazmuhammedov.
The audience greeted each actor who came onto the stage to receive their well-deserved award with warm and enthusiastic applause.
The theatre festival concluded with a song dedicated to Hero-Arkadag and the present happy era. The event inspired all participants to present new and even more engaging works at the next forum in our peaceful and creative country.
