Sandro Akhmeteli (Georgian: სრნáƒ"რáƒ
რხმáƒ"ტáƒ"ლი; real name: Aleksandre Akhmetelashvili,
რლáƒ"ქსრნáƒ"რáƒ"
რხმáƒ"ტáƒ"ლრშვილი) (April 13, 1886 â€" June 27,
1937) was a Georgian theater director whose innovative conceptions and
skill at mass scenes profoundly influenced the evolution of Soviet and
post-Soviet Georgian theater tradition. Commonly regarded as the
greatest of all Georgian theater directors,[1] he directed, from 1926
to 1935, the Rustaveli Theater in Tbilisi, Georgia, and transformed it
into one of the most successful troupes in the Soviet Union. During
Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge, he was arrested on trumped-up[citation
needed] charges of espionage and executed.Sandro Akhmeteli was born to
the family of a priest in the mountainous village in the province of
Kakheti (eastern Georgia, then part of Imperial Russia), whose
landscapes and culture heavily influenced the future director’s
aesthetic values. Taught at a grammar school by the writer Vasil
Barnovi, Akhmeteli acquired a profound knowledge of Georgian and world
literature. He was a perfect boxer at the same time. An unfortunate
marriage forced him to leave for St. Petersburg where he enrolled into
St. Petersburg University to study law (until 1916). However,
Akhmeteli spent most of his time in writing theater criticism. In
1915, he produced his first manifesto, condemning the Georgian theater
as one that had "to be destroyed, to be made softer, more
temperamental, more fiery, emotional, stentorian, bold, heroic."[1]In
1918, Georgia became independent from Russia, and the new government
launched a program aimed at reviving the national theater. Akhemeteli
returned to Georgia to lead the younger actors into a coup against the
establishment. In 1922, the conspicuous Russia-based Georgian theater
director Kote Marjanishvili also returned to Georgia, and the two men
began reforming the Tbilisi Rustaveli Theater. Their collaboration was
productive, yet uneasy. Restricted and somewhat conformist
Marjanishvili found Akhmeteli’s autocratic rule and turbulent
character too violent and left the Rustaveli Theater in 1926, leaving
Akhemeteli in sole control of the company. Akhmeteli formed his own
artistic corporation Duruji (after a river in his native Kakheti) and
required all its members to sign a special pledge to "sacrifice their
life and future to the will of the corporation and
theater".[1]Akhemetli's relations with the recently established Soviet
government in Georgia were difficult. Although revolutionary and
leftist, his experimentalism and expressionism did not particularly
conform to the Bolshevist doctrines. During the anti-Soviet uprising
in 1924, he was briefly arrested and questioned about his corporation
which was deemed by the secret police to be a conspiracy. He had to
disband Duruji under Lavrentiy Beria’s pressure in 1927, but
Akhemetli’s resonant successes earned him protection in Moscow. His
skills at spectacular massed casts, and choreography garnered an
international acclaim. After his masterpiece, Lamara, a play be Grigol
Robakidze, won a prize at the 1930 Moscow Drama Olympiad, Akhemetli
and his troupe were invited to tour the United States, alarming the
Soviet authorities. Following Robakidze’s scandalous defection to
Germany later that year, Beria launched a new assault against
Akhmeteli. Paradoxically, Lamara continued to be staged to prove the
achievements of Soviet theatrical art, although without the name of
the playwright on the posters. Akhemeteli produced his last major work
based on Die Räuber by Schiller in 1933, followed by the triumphant
tour to Moscow.[1]
რხმáƒ"ტáƒ"ლი; real name: Aleksandre Akhmetelashvili,
რლáƒ"ქსრნáƒ"რáƒ"
რხმáƒ"ტáƒ"ლრშვილი) (April 13, 1886 â€" June 27,
1937) was a Georgian theater director whose innovative conceptions and
skill at mass scenes profoundly influenced the evolution of Soviet and
post-Soviet Georgian theater tradition. Commonly regarded as the
greatest of all Georgian theater directors,[1] he directed, from 1926
to 1935, the Rustaveli Theater in Tbilisi, Georgia, and transformed it
into one of the most successful troupes in the Soviet Union. During
Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge, he was arrested on trumped-up[citation
needed] charges of espionage and executed.Sandro Akhmeteli was born to
the family of a priest in the mountainous village in the province of
Kakheti (eastern Georgia, then part of Imperial Russia), whose
landscapes and culture heavily influenced the future director’s
aesthetic values. Taught at a grammar school by the writer Vasil
Barnovi, Akhmeteli acquired a profound knowledge of Georgian and world
literature. He was a perfect boxer at the same time. An unfortunate
marriage forced him to leave for St. Petersburg where he enrolled into
St. Petersburg University to study law (until 1916). However,
Akhmeteli spent most of his time in writing theater criticism. In
1915, he produced his first manifesto, condemning the Georgian theater
as one that had "to be destroyed, to be made softer, more
temperamental, more fiery, emotional, stentorian, bold, heroic."[1]In
1918, Georgia became independent from Russia, and the new government
launched a program aimed at reviving the national theater. Akhemeteli
returned to Georgia to lead the younger actors into a coup against the
establishment. In 1922, the conspicuous Russia-based Georgian theater
director Kote Marjanishvili also returned to Georgia, and the two men
began reforming the Tbilisi Rustaveli Theater. Their collaboration was
productive, yet uneasy. Restricted and somewhat conformist
Marjanishvili found Akhmeteli’s autocratic rule and turbulent
character too violent and left the Rustaveli Theater in 1926, leaving
Akhemeteli in sole control of the company. Akhmeteli formed his own
artistic corporation Duruji (after a river in his native Kakheti) and
required all its members to sign a special pledge to "sacrifice their
life and future to the will of the corporation and
theater".[1]Akhemetli's relations with the recently established Soviet
government in Georgia were difficult. Although revolutionary and
leftist, his experimentalism and expressionism did not particularly
conform to the Bolshevist doctrines. During the anti-Soviet uprising
in 1924, he was briefly arrested and questioned about his corporation
which was deemed by the secret police to be a conspiracy. He had to
disband Duruji under Lavrentiy Beria’s pressure in 1927, but
Akhemetli’s resonant successes earned him protection in Moscow. His
skills at spectacular massed casts, and choreography garnered an
international acclaim. After his masterpiece, Lamara, a play be Grigol
Robakidze, won a prize at the 1930 Moscow Drama Olympiad, Akhemetli
and his troupe were invited to tour the United States, alarming the
Soviet authorities. Following Robakidze’s scandalous defection to
Germany later that year, Beria launched a new assault against
Akhmeteli. Paradoxically, Lamara continued to be staged to prove the
achievements of Soviet theatrical art, although without the name of
the playwright on the posters. Akhemeteli produced his last major work
based on Die Räuber by Schiller in 1933, followed by the triumphant
tour to Moscow.[1]
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