Bitef

Here is Peter Brook's opinion about Rezo: "He is indeed a creator of great ingenuity. His imagery is deeply personal and it brings to the theatre a quality of poetic and transcendental realism for which I know no equivalent. His long experience in many artistic fields now enables him to reach the ideal proposed by Gordon Craig of the completely creative director. His art brings an artistic force and positive human vision into European theatre at a moment when it is badly needed." "...The performance of Rezo Gabriadze's Theatre became a real adornment of Edinburgh Festival. Maestro Gabriadze’s originality and mastery is beyond all expectations." "Le Monde" As Rezo says the idea of The Battle of Stalingrad came to him when he read an account of the epic battle of Stalingrad that transformed the banks of Volga into a terrifying slaughterhouse. He read stories of people of different nationalities who perished. Then one day he stumbled across an old account of the battle in the notes of a war correspondent. The account said: after the battle was over, the closer I got to Stalingrad, the landscape took on an unbelievable appearance, Everywhere the car cases of horses were strewn across the steppe. Some horses, still alive stood on three legs dragging the fourth. This was the heartbreaking spectacle. Gabriadze says: "The image of this horse on three legs haunted me for a long time. And thus , gradually there in my mind the theme of Stalingrad started to take form". "Technically speaking The battle of Stalingrad is a puppet show, but it is to our ordinary understanding of puppetry what a hurricane is to a sneeze." "Washington Post", 2000 The Battle of Stalingrad is a puppet show in the same way you might call Bach Chaconne a fiddle tune. "The Post and Courier", North Charleston "...These are all marionettes, less than 30ft tali, and some tiny. And yet their scenes have a more generous and more heart-stopping sense of drama than most plays with real actors." "Financial Times", 2004 "Thank you for a unique experience. If only humans could act as well as puppets! It was an object lesson of wit, humor and emotions. Unforgettable." Peter Ustinov

PROGRAMME: Scene 1: Parting Alyosha, a horse Andrei, his friend Scene 2: What is the electron? Pinchas, a worker Scene 3: Prisoner Gorenko Gorenko, an officer Stalin Scene 4: Alyosha's Angel Alyosha's angel An ant Scene 5: intelligence Reports Scene 6: The Eleventh Finger Cafe A spy Alyosha & Natasha Molder, an artist Nitz, the proprietor Scene 7: For Valor Scene 8: Dark Night Scene 9: The Mass of an Atom Katya, a girl Sahsa, her classmate Scene 10: Black Sea Yasha, a gunner Rosa, his beloved Rosa's fiance A Rabbi Scene 11: The circle Alyosha & Natasha Scene 12; My Fate is Always War General Paulus Alyosha Scene 13: Field Marshal Gorenko Scene 14; Ant's Lament