Puppet Theater in Almaty was founded in 1935. Three years later, it received republican status. It is the first puppet theater in Kazakhstan. From the very beginning of its work, the productions were held in two languages: Kazakh and Russian, and the tradition is still preserved.

Puppet Theater

Puppet Theater in Almaty was founded in 1935. Three years later, it received republican status. It is the first puppet theater in Kazakhstan. From the very beginning of its work, the productions were held in two languages: Kazakh and Russian, and the tradition is still preserved. The inspirers of the creation of the theater were Oleg Gasyuk and Seyfolla Telgaraeva. Premiere puppet shows were Otegen Batyr and Aldar-Kose. The performances were realized by S. Telgaraev and K. Batyrov was a former leading actor of the Kazakh Drama Theater, who additionally graduated from the courses of puppeteers. Actors were the real master puppeteers O. Tarasova and D. Lipman. The composers B. Erzakovich and L. Hamidi worked on the musical design of the performances.During World War II, the troupe of the theater was distributed into front-line concert brigades. From the late 1940s, the theater began its touring activities, first in the cities of Kazakhstan, then in other republics of Central Asia. Tours abroad began in the 1980s, the troupe’s creativity was appreciated by the inhabitants of China, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Japan, Kampuchea, the Czech Republic and other countries.

Touring abroad

Among the achievements of the Almaty Puppet Theater there are awards of many festivals. He became, and not once, the winner of the Tashkent, Frunze puppet theater festivals. One of the most prestigious awards received by the theater is the Grand Prix, deserved in 2010.in the city of Prague, at the XIV World Puppet Festival.In 2017, the Puppet Theater won the International Tak-Tele Puppet Festival, in the nominations for a peculiar reading of the classics by a puppet, as well as for the best direction.Since 1980, the theater has been housed in a building that has been recognized as a monument of history and culture.

Construction

It was built in 1910 as a public assembly building. It was intended for urban cultural and entertainment events. Historians failed to find out who was the author of the architectural project. The city at that time was called Verny (Faithful). In this house, the local city society of dramatic art lovers staged and played their theatrical productions. The Almaty Puppet Theater received the status of a monument in 1979. In 2010, the list of historical and cultural monuments of Almaty was revised, but the building retained the status of a monument of local importance. Major reconstruction with the demolition of the old building was carried out in 2012-2013. The auditoriums were expanded, of which there are two. Large, designed for 215 spectators, and small one for 50 seats. In the big hall, the visual places began to be arranged in two rows, the lighting and sound equipment were modernized. Small Hall has been refitted as interactive.

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