The Georgian Showcase, part of the Tbilisi International Festival of Theater 2024, presented a vivid picture of the emerging trends in theater and the new perspectives of Georgia. Three innovative performances were among the highlights of this showcase: Berserkers At Home, directed Giorgi Jamburia, HA, a solo show directed by Sandro Kaandadze, and Fire, a student-produced production from Open Space (Center for Performing & Visual Arts). These performances, while distinct in style, technique and narrative structure shed light on the current direction in youth theater in Georgia. They emphasize experimentation, social relevance and personal introspection.
Berserkers At Home – The Revolt against Theatrical Convention
Berserkers At Home by Giorgi Jamburia is a perfect example of how young Georgians are redefining traditional forms in order to create a theatrical experience that is immersive and unpredictable. The performance is an experimental social drama that goes beyond simple storytelling. It draws on themes of existentialism and failed utopias. Jamburia, who not only directs and writes the play, but also designs its scenography makes it a deeply personal creation that reflects a broad vision of theatre.
The interactive nature of the performance, where the audience’s reaction plays a significant part in shaping the progress of the action breaks the traditional divide between stage and viewers. This approach creates a new form artistic reality where the performers and spectators exist in a shared physical and emotional space. Jamburia’s manipulation of rhythm and tempo, driven by improvisation creates a unique narrative that contrasts rigid structures typical of traditional plays. Berserkers At Home is a great example of a new trend in youth theatre: embracing unpredictability, fluidity and direct engagement with audiences. Jamburia, by doing so, fosters a resistance to conventionality. This theme runs parallel to disillusionment of larger societal ideals such as the critiques of failed political utopias in the text.
This performance challenges not only the ideological principles but also the core of theatrical presentation. It urges the audience to rethink its relationship with art, the space and each other.
HA – The Human Voice as a Memory Instrument
Sandro Kalandadze’s HA is a one-woman performance featuring Anano Maharadze. It strips theater down to its bare necessities, relying solely on voice, sound, and breath to convey a powerful emotional narrative. The monologue by Mariam Megvinyte explores the experiences and silence of those who died unjustly during war.
HA is a departure from the more visually-driven performances. The use of sound and breathing as the central elements of the play’s construction reflects a growing trend in Georgian Youth Theater, an exploration of nonverbal communication and physicality in performance. The play focuses on breath and voice modulation to express pain, suffering and remembrance in a more primal way. The performer’s breathing becomes a conduit that ties the past to the present in a deeply symbolical way.
The minimalist staging, and the focus on human voice, place HA in the broader trend of deconstructing theatre to its core elements. The performance’s Georgian context gives it a special resonance, as Georgia continues to struggle with its violent past. HA is more than a theatre experiment. It is a collective memory, a poignant reminder about the impact of war both on the living and dead.
Fire – Navigating Personal and Global Crises
The collaborative performance by Elene Burchuladze with Masho Makashvili and Elene Mindiashvili as well as Nika Shanava, Luka Chibikhaia, and Luka Japaridze, Fire, curated by Davit Khorbaladze & Mikheil Charkviani, is perhaps the most politically and socially aware of the three performances, drawing parallels between personal emotional turmoil and the environmental catastrophe which serves as the central metaphor. The performance explores themes such as identity, sexuality and depression, as well as the uncertainty of the world’s future. All of these are framed in the context of a “world on fire.”
Fire is a documentary style piece that transforms the real life experiences of its performers into theatrical art. This is a trend that is increasingly being seen in youth theatres around the world, where real-life experiences are used as the basis for performances, allowing a raw, authentic exploration of social issues. In Fire, the anxiety about the environment is mirrored in the inner emotional landscapes that the performers experience, creating a powerful parallel between the global crisis as well as their own struggles.
The production’s use multimedia highlights the influence digital culture has on the younger generations. The performance captures the dissonance of virtual escapism with the harsh realities outside by incorporating loops from screenings and an authentic landscape outside the windows. The performance’s constant refrain of “Wake Up!” is a call to actions, not only for characters, but also for audience members, encouraging them to confront personal and societal crisis.
A New Wave of Expression
The three performances of the Georgian Showcase of Tbilisi International Festival of Theater-2024 — Berserkers: At home, HA, Fire — are a powerful tapestry of contemporary Georgian youth theatre, reflecting themes, trends, as well as aesthetic tendencies of a young generation of artists. These works emphasize experimental social drama, intimate storytelling, and the merging individual and collective experience.
Existential Crisis and social commentary: All three performances reflect a deep engagement in existential questions, and a reflection of contemporary social issues. Berserkers At Home is a cyclical story about utopian ideas, love and nihilism. It explores the disillusionment of grand narratives such as communism, and the trivialization emotions like love. This work explores the search for meaning when traditional values are no longer relevant or seem to be exhausted. It reveals a sense absurdity that reflects the uncertainty of modern life. HA also tackles the devastation caused by war, trauma and the weight of history. This performance, by giving voice to the dead suggests that the unresolved history haunts the present and the chaos of contemporary life is insurmountable. Fire reflects this emotional weight, as personal stories of love, depression, sexuality, and identity are intertwined. The performance uses fire as a symbol for the chaos and uncertainties that are affecting both the personal and global spheres. This reflects a generation’s anxiety about the near future.
Fragmented Narratives & Personal Stories: All 3 performances focus on fragmented, episodic structure, breaking away from linear storytelling. In Berserkers At Home, characters’ interactions are disjointed with shifting tones and subject matters, echoing a breakdown of coherent worldviews. HA is also fragmented. The lone voice alternates between past and current, life and death. This technique reflects fragmentation in contemporary consciousness where personal and collective history merges in disorienting manners.
Fire amplifies that by blending personal confession with documentary storytelling. The participants’ stories are fragments of a larger emotional terrain, linked to a global ecological crisis. These fragmented stories reflect the modern condition where individuals struggle to create cohesive identities or make meaning of an unstable world. This emphasis on personal experiences, especially in Fire suggests that youth theatre in Georgia is deeply committed to exploring subjective experiences, notably those often marginalized by society, such mental health and sexuality.
All three works take a critical view of traditional ideals and social structures. In Berserkers At Home, a character’s reflections about communism and love show skepticism towards utopian promises. This echoes the wider cultural sentiment of disillusionment towards ideologies which once offered hope, but now seem irrelevant or oppressive. Fire, meanwhile, addresses the search for an identity in a time of profound instability where even the notion of a stable and coherent self is elusive. This criticism extends to HA where the voice is the dead serves to remind us that past traumas still shape our present reality. The refusal to let historical pain go reflects a culture that is grappling with unresolved conflicts both personal and politically. The focus on identity, especially in Fire, where mental health and sexuality are key themes suggests that youth theatre in Georgia is attuned with the complexities of selfhood within a rapidly changing society.
Experimental Forms and improvisation: Each performance shows a commitment to experimentation. Berserkers: at Home is heavily reliant on improvisation and audience interaction, creating a dynamic performance that changes with every iteration. The energy of the audience and the physical and emotional state the performers are in influences the direction of the show, breaking down the traditional divide that exists between the performer and the spectator. This improvisational method allows for spontaneity, which is a hallmark of experimental theater. HA uses sound, breath and movement as its primary tools of expression. It pushes the boundaries of traditional monologue. The performance’s focus on vocal modulation, breath control and a unique auditory effect transforms the performer’s voice to a physical presence in the space. This approach highlights how sound can convey emotion and narrative even without conventional dialogue or plot.
Minimalist Scenography & Symbolism : The scenography of these performances is often minimal, focusing more on symbolic gestures than elaborate sets or objects. The proximity of the action creates a immersive, intimate experience in Berserkers: at Home. The staging itself becomes a tool to break down conventional theatrical boundaries. HA uses minimal visual elements with the emphasis on the performer’s voice and body. This stripped-down aesthetic forces audiences to focus on performers and the emotional intensity in the performance. Fire uses fire to suggest both destruction and regeneration. The minimalist staging allows the themes of personal crisis and environmental catastrophe to take center stage. The performers’ physical presence, and the symbolic use fire, create a visceral link between the audience and performers’ inner lives. These performances rely on minimalist, symbolic scenography, which suggests a trend towards focusing more on the emotional and conceptual core than on external spectacle.
Interdisciplinary Approaches – The use of interdisciplinary approaches, such as sound design and movement, is a key feature in these works. Fire, for instance, integrates the rhythms from media culture into the story structure, blending personal and digital in a way which feels distinctly modern. This integration of media into live performance suggests that there is a growing awareness about how technology shapes identity, especially for younger generations.
The Future of Georgian Theater
These performances suggest that the future of Georgian theatre will be one of experimentation, innovation, and social relevance. Young directors and theater makers are pushing the limits of form by blending different disciplines, and embracing nonlinear, fragmented stories. The focus is on personal and social issues. Mental health, identity and environmental crises are at the forefront. These performances are a reflection of a generation that is struggling with a rapidly evolving world and seeking new ways to express modern life.
The aesthetic choices made by these young theater-makers–improvisation, minimalism, and interdisciplinary approaches–suggest a move away from traditional theatrical forms in favor of more fluid, experimental methods. This willingness to break from convention, combined with a deep engagement in contemporary social issues, indicates a future where Georgian theater will continue evolving as a platform for individual and collective expression.
The theater of Georgia is characterized, as shown in these three performances by a bold experimentation of form, a deep engagement of existential and social issues, and an aesthetic minimalism which emphasizes the emotional and concept power of performance. This new generation of theater-makers are not afraid to tackle difficult themes. Their work suggests that Georgian theater will have a vibrant future, one that is deeply connected with the realities of modern life and is committed to exploring new artistic opportunities.
By Ivan Nechaev
Tags: Berserkers at HomeCenter for Performing & Visual ArtFire- Open SpaceGeorgian theatreGiorgi jamburiaHAIvan NechaevSandro KalandadzeTbilisi International Festival of Theater, 2024
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