The State Russian Drama Theatre named after A.S. Pushkin premiered «When the Young Soul Shines» by playwright and Honoured Artist of Turkmenistan Bulbul Mammedov. Professionals like Bulbul Mammedov are called universal. He is a playwright, translator, screenwriter, director of plays and films, poet, composer, dutarist, gyjakist, singer, and artist. Oddly enough, this entire array of talents was evident in him from childhood.
From the memoirs of his friend, People's Artist of Turkmenistan Ovez Gelenov:
«I first met Bulbul as a barefoot boy at a neighbour’s wedding. Compared to us, he was extremely neat, without abrasions or blisters on his feet. And he behaved with good manners at the festive table». When I saw him in our class on the 1st of September, my joy knew no bounds – we were classmates! I tried my best to be like my friend – I asked my father to buy me paints so I could paint like Bulbul, and I also started taking dutar lessons because Bulbul played the instrument fluently.
«The class I was in was seriously into amateur performance», Bulbul Mammedovich explains. «I composed skits about fairy tale characters or school life figures. My friend Ovez Gelenov and I usually performed them together. In the fourth grade, we put together an entire concert program. After seeing this concert, the Gyzylarbat Carriage Repair Plant gave us a reserved seat carriage for a tour. There were up to 40 amateur performers, and we went «on tour» during the summer holidays. For me and my friends, it was the most romantic trip of our lives! Baherden, Gokdepe, Buzmeyin, Ashgabat—at these stations, our carriage turned into a stage. And on the way back, residents of these cities recognised us on the platform. We experienced a small, but very sweet, taste of artistic glory.
Bulbul Mammedov and Ovez Gelenov were invited to join the amateur performing arts program at the Gyzylarbat City Community Centre. Fate was kind to them: in 1968, just as they were finishing their secondary education, a Turkmen studio opened at the Moscow M.S. Shchepkin Theatre School. Many people wanted to attend, but they had a bonus: by this time, Mammedov and Gelenov had already won the Republican Amateur Performing Arts Competition.
The landing gear lifted off the runway, and the two friends took off in an airplane for the first time in their lives. Moscow and their training as true actors awaited them. It seemed they couldn't be happier!
Five years later, a group of qualified actors, including the two friends, joined the Youth Theatre. They were ambitious actors, eager for leading roles and eager to showcase their talents to audiences as quickly as possible.
In addition to minor roles, Bulbul Mammedovich was fortunate to play the lead roles in «Song of the Tsareviches», based on the play by People's Writer of Turkmenistan Annaberdi Agabayev, as well as Vasenka in Alexander Vampilov's «The Elder Son».
Bulbul enjoyed acting, but he felt it was not enough. He felt he would be more productive if he became a director. So in 1982, he went to Moscow to enrol in the Higher Directing Courses at the USSR State Cinema Committee. He enrolled in Sergey Solovyov's course. His graduation project was the short film «Garly» («Snowy»).
His first feature film at Turkmenfilm was «Destan of My Youth», based on a story by Agageldi Allanazarov. Ovez Gelenov played one of the central roles. Bulbul Mammedov's directorial debut was warmly received by audiences, and the press gave him very favourable reviews.
–The story of my second feature film is this, –says Bulbul Mammedov. –I came across a short story by the Georgian writer Goderdzi Chokheli, «A Man with a Fir Tree». The story goes that a small spruce seed landed on a man's shoulder and sprouted. The man was advised to destroy the sprout, but he felt sorry for the life of a living creature. Instead, he dedicated himself to ensuring the spruce did not wither without water.
This story moved me so much that I translated it into Turkmen, adding the protagonist's reflections on the meaning of life on earth. I wrote the screenplay for the film and offered the role of the protagonist to Nury Hudaygulyyev.
At one of the film festivals, the author of this story, Goderdzi Chokheli, approached me and shook my hand for a long time, expressing his gratitude for my participation in his story and for the film I had created.
One day, I received a letter from an American producer of Korean descent, who wrote that he had seen the film «Destan of My Youth» and intended to offer me a collaboration. This offer was very flattering, but at the time, we had no such international collaboration experience.
In 2014, the film «Ah, Veli, Veli...» was released, and that same year, it won two main prizes at the IV International Film Festival in Bishkek (Kyrgyz Republic).
Bulbul Mammedov's career in film and theatre is striking in its versatility. He starred in the films «Time According to the Sun», «People of My Village», «Kel Bagşy», and «Heserli», directed over 20 plays, and composed music for five films and seven plays. He is the screenwriter for 10 films, including «Garly», «Destan of My Youth», and «Ah, Veli, Veli...,» the production designer for «A Man with a Fir Tree», «Turkmens», and « Naughty Japbaks», and the set designer for the plays «Beauty» and «Dawn». In other words, there is no creative specialty in film or theatre that Bulbul Mammedov does not possess.
Bulbul Mammedov has one characteristic that sets him apart from other directors: he has worked in all of the capital's theatres. During his two years as chief director at the A.S. Pushkin State Russian Drama Theatre, he staged Claude Magnier's French comedy «Blaise» and Chingiz Aytmatov's «The Mother's Field», co-directing with Maral Durdyyeva.
With the Main Academic Drama Theatre, Bulbul Mammedov staged the play «Gorogly's Matchmakers». For the anniversary of the distinguished Turkmen composer Nury Halmammedov, Bulbul Mammedov staged the play «Strings of My Soul» in Russian at the State Russian Drama Theatre named after A.S. Pushkin and in Turkmen at the National Drama Theatre named after Alp Arslan.
Today, Bulbul Mammedov is the principal director of the National Drama Theatre named after Alp Arslan. According to his friend Ovez Gelenov, a manuscript sits on Bulbul Mammedovich's bookshelf – his translation into Turkmen of Nodar Dumbadze's Georgian novel «The Law of Eternity». It patiently awaits its completion.
We've seen Bulbul Mammedovich in a national robe, holding a dutar, at the conservatory and theatre venues. But we've only heard about his paintings. We would like to see this versatile artist's work as well. So, we asked our photojournalist to take a few photographs of Bulbul Mammedov's paintings. Frankly, we were pleasantly surprised to see such high-quality art.
We wish Bulbul Mammedovich good health and continued success in his creative endeavours.
