"Fact" daily writes:
Months ago, the translator, poet, film actor Gagik Shirmazan made a rather extensive reference to the chronology of Stepanavan's theatrical life, starting with 1883 and ending with 1988, when the building of the Stepanavan Palace of Culture, where performances were performed, was also destroyed during a devastating earthquake. coming to the theater He presented in detail what theatrical performances were staged, which actors and actresses were hosted in the city's theater. Currently, thanks to the investments of the state and the Stepanavan community, the Palace of Culture is being thoroughly renovated. Mr. Shirmazan ended his article as follows. "... the palace of culture is planned to be put into operation at the end of this year, which all Stepanavanites are eagerly waiting for, asking each other: "Can they restore the theater too?" This was the reason for our conversation with him. When talking about the need for a theater in Stepanavan, we draw parallels with the Vanadzor State Drama Theater. Shirmazan says that in today's conditions, it would be wrong to think that the state theater can serve the population of the entire marz, satisfy their cultural demands and interests. "When I was invited to Vanadzor theater on different occasions to attend performances, I saw that Vanadzor society visits the theater. Yes, the same theater can come on tour to Stepanavan, but the tours cannot be frequent, there are various problems," he said in an interview with "Past". Recalling the journey of the Stepanavan theater, he notes that when its status changed from state to folk, something very interesting happened. "People with a certain acting talent, who worked in various enterprises, took part in the performances of the folk theater. The involvement was widening. Some pretty good traditions were formed. For example, when I was a child, I well remember that our family had to be present at any new performance in the theater. The performances were also an occasion for the representatives of the intelligentsia of the city to communicate with each other. If there was a talk about the theater at that time and your interlocutor couldn't talk to you about that topic, everyone wondered if you weren't from this city, hadn't you been to the theater. And people were trying to maintain that level. The atmosphere was completely different, now it's gone. Atepanavan Palace of Culture, its revolving stage has always attracted creative people. Very few could boast of such technical capabilities. Even in the last years of the Soviet Union, the Hrachya Ghaplanyan Drama Theater always toured the Palace of Culture in Stepanavan. They also organized master classes for the actors working here," adds our interlocutor. Shirmazan has set a goal for himself: the Stepanavan theater must be restored. He has already had conversations with various theater figures, heard words of enthusiasm and support from them, now he wants to make these contacts concrete and understand the order of steps to move forward in terms of technical and creative composition. "Establishing contacts, preliminary agreements to participate, help, organize. I have taken the first steps, this is the goal of my life. It is also important to complete the renovation works in the Palace of Culture," he says. He emphasizes that the goal today is to create a theater troupe that will become a city theater in the future. "First we will carry out casting, form a small theater group and start our performances. Today, there is the practice of inviting actors and directors from different theaters to other theaters, and we can apply this to a great extent. We should not put barriers between us and other creative collectives. On the contrary, I think that the State Theater named after Abel Yan will play an important role, for example, in terms of holding the same master classes. A theater group for school-aged children still operates at the House of Culture. There are also recitation groups, handicraft groups as well as a dance group. Today, we have interesting educational institutions in the city. Schools aside, the State College of Agriculture, a branch of the Crisis Management Academy, operates. In other words, there are students who also need to be involved in the creative atmosphere. Maybe many people will discover their love for the theater and the stage. The existence of telephone, Internet, everything is understandable, but live communication is indispensable. Of course, performances should also be interesting. In them, the audience should see himself, his neighbor and friend, the events and characters should be taken from our lives." The operation of the theater in Stepanavan is aimed at restoring the cultural atmosphere in the city. "That atmosphere was special for Stepanavan. This is not an industrial city, it was more of a recreation, tourism, cultural center. Recently, the International Day of Intangible Cultural Heritage announced by UNESCO was celebrated in Stepanavan. The Palace of Culture organized quite a nice event. It was a very interesting play with Tumanyan motifs, staged with different heroes. Everyone mentioned that they "miss" such events. We have a culture and entertainment center created on the basis of the Stepan Shahumyan museum. It has become the business card of Stepanavan with its small stage and small hall. The other day, the Yerevan Chamber Choir performed there. Their speech was dedicated to the 155th anniversary of Komitas. It was well received by the audience," says our interlocutor. We need the spread of culture especially in marzes, because sometimes it seems that everything is concentrated in the capital, and in the case of marzes, in marze centers and big cities. "Much depends on the attitude of those in charge of the sector. Armen Grigoryan, head of the Stepanavan community, also welcomed this initiative of mine. Without his willingness and support, it will be difficult to implement such an initiative," concludes Gagik Shirmazan, who is now the advisor to the head of the Stepanavan community.
Lusine Arakelyan
