Lela Ochiauri
"Wait for the Darkness." By Anuki Khidesheli
Anuki Khidesheli's "Wait for the Darkness" (based on Frederick Knott's screenplay) is a psychological, criminal drama built on a system of metaphors—unfolding within psychological and physical tension. It takes place in a conditional, enclosed world created by the director, which has its own dimensions and rules. As required by the laws of the horror genre, mystical and mysterious events that induce fear increase from episode to episode, and the atmosphere becomes more and more charged. The conscious, the subconscious, doubt, reality and imagination are intertwined, and the boundary between them is difficult to understand. The events are built on precise psychological calculations and possess an active radiating power.
This is a play about the fate of a vulnerable and helpless person left alone in the face of violence and about the possibilities and skills that one must discover within oneself.
Temo Kupravas "Terror" — based on Ferdinand Von Schirach'splay — is a creative/social project, a "courtroom drama" about personal choice with the engagement of the society. The case is unusual, atypical and therefore difficult both to conduct and to decide. That is precisely why the verdict must be delivered by the audience, "appointed" as the jury, guided by their own moral, heart and mind; and answer the principal question - who has the "right” in a crisis and inescapable situation, to take upon themselves the fate of human beings—sacrificing some in order to save others.
The action develops according to the dramaturgical and trial-like "plot"—in form, motivation, order.
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Maka Vasadze
Levan Tsuladze, one of the best directors of the middle generation, became intensively interested in stage adaptations of the works of pre-existentialist Fyodor Dostoevsky in the 21st century and has staged several productions. I think this is hardly surprising in a century filled with political and social upheavals and wars, a century that questions the nature and existence of human being . This century is probably the most ruthless, heartless, pragmatic era of ignorance and the rise of "little men"—at least in its first third.
During his period as the artistic director of the MarjanishviliTheatre in 2016, based on works by Sholem Aleichem and Guram Batiashvili and together with composer Vato Kakhidze, Levan Tsuladze staged "BEGALUT - In Exhile"by combining the methods of non-verbal and dramatic theater. There, among other things, showing the lives of two Jewish families, he brought to the forefront the theme of violence, specifically the genocide of Jews in Russia. It was there that he used Dostoevsky's text for the first time. One of the characters reads aloud to Russian soldiers from newspaper pages Dostoevsky’s portrayal of Jews as the enemy of Russia and his calls for their destruction (strangely enough, a passage from a genuinely existing letter published in his volumes). It is important that the playwright and director did not translate the excerpt of Dostoevsky's letter, but sounded it from the stage in the writer's native language. This was the only verbal segment of the performance, followed by the brutal raid and physical destruction of Jewish families by a Russian general and his retinue.
Subsequently, the director created a trilogy exploring the problem of violence: what causes violence , who the perpetrators are, why they are perpetrators and why they develop a desire to oppress, humiliate and kill others. Personally, I perceived this trilogy as productions directed against violence toward women (though, according to the director's intent, not exclusively toward women). Violence against women is, unfortunately, a global problem. In 2021, one part of the trilogy was realized based on Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" together with director Temo Kuprava.
A man of a perpetually restless creative nature, Levan Tsuladzeis always in search of the new. Three years ago he opened new theater—Theatre Factory 42. Here he has staged Shakespeare, Strindberg, Gogol, "1921" (a play built on historical material about the Red Army's occupation of Georgia), productions staged according to famous motion pictures and others.
In the late spring of 2026, based on Dostoevsky's short story "Notes from Underground", Levan Tsuladze realized a two-man production - "Man from the Underground". The first act is effectively a monodrama in which actor Nika Kuchava—following the task set by the director, with high professionalism, combining the nature of Georgian psychological theater sensibilities with the principles of interactive theater (the main addressee of his active monologue is the audience)—creates a type of man filled with nihilism, the man who believes in nothing and no one in this world; the man obsessed with fears. The destruction of the world and chaos are the cornerstone of his worldview. He is inadequate, has lost all human faculties, most important among them - the capacity for love. This is a small, frightened little man who does not live, but merely exists. He is an intellectual, but this intellectuality does no good for him; he is holed up, frightened, in a burrow. He asserts that nothing in the world is good.
In the second act the man meets a young girl (Nina Lortkipanidze). A feeling flashes between them; despite believing himself sexually impotent, he is attracted to young woman, but the nihilistic intellectual himself extinguishes the spark that ought to flare up. In this hopeless world around us, there is no longer a place for love. The man brutally humiliates and rejects the very person who is his last chance to turn back toward life. In the short story, the girl is mostly silent, and her profile is not sharply defined; in the performance, the young girl's character can be said to be entirely the product of the director's and actor's imagination and together they breathed scenic life into this character.
Levan Tsuladze has brought the works of Nikolai Gogol, a genius writer, to the stage many times.Years ago in the Basement Theatre , which he co-founded with like-minded peers, he staged Gogol's The Nose. He staged it for a second time at Theater Factory 42 (with the premiere at the end of March 2025). In 2014, based on Diary of a Madman, he created a co-production between the Marjanishvili Theater and the Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione (Italy). And in 2026 the premiere of Diary of a Madman took place at Theater 42.
I believe the director's repeated returns to Gogol's creative work have both objective and subjective reasons. Originally from Ukraine, Nikolai Gogol holds a special place in Russian literature and culture in general. His works are unlike anyone else's—original and uniquely his own: phantasmagoric, feerie-like, realistic, humorous, sometimes sarcastic, occasionally absurd, and modern in every time and epoch. Gogol is a meticulous recorder and describer of Russian daily life and the Russian mentality. At the same time, the events, stories, and types of people in his works—their characters, inner nature, and actions—can be adapted to any country or society.
Under conditions of autocratic governance state structures turn into monsters, high-ranking officials are corrupt and against this backdrop, small, decent, dreamy individuals slowly lose their sanity inside the "jaws of this monster," plunging entirely into a world of dreams where they try to escape bitter reality.
The first version of Levan Tsuladze's staged/interpreted Diary of a Madman (2014) was shrouded in a more romantic hue. As always, the director's work stood out with humor, inexhaustible imagination, creativity and an unremitting striving toward goodness. He depicted the tragedy unfolding within the human soul, caused by deep emotions through light brushstrokes.
This time, in the staging realized at Theater Factory 42, the director stripped all romance away from the play, yet left Gogol's characteristic phantasmagoria intact and confronted the audience with harsh reality. Poprishchin's tragic end is not solely the fault of state structures; he is led to his ruin by society and his surroundings, whose mirror-images are, unfortunately, abundant all around us.
Both the previous and the new productions stand out for their ensemble harmony, the professionalism of the creative company and technical personnel as well as high artistic taste. I believe this is a performance whose issues (directorial concept) and expressive means (acting performance, scenography, audio-visual design, etc.) you will never forget...
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Tamta Kajaia
Magdana’s Donkey
Nika Chikvaidze's "Magdana’s Donkey" conveys the core message of the performance through a modern visual expressive form and a semantic language. The performance is not violating the classic text, by the way. While the original work portrays the fate of a tragic widowed woman, the play presents a generalized critique of social injustice.
The production clearly demonstrates how injustice destroys the poor and the powerless; while the "law" supposedly applies equally to everyone—all of this is merely illusory and conditional. The director does not focus solely on the story of a struggling mother and her children; instead, he generalizes and expands the theme. We see the individual within the system, walking the path defined by helplessness and vulnerability. Through a modernized form, the director conveys and shows us how human justice loses its face and turns into a mechanism of control.
It is no coincidence that in the end a puppet appears in the role of the judge - it reveals the following: the puppet possesses no feelings or empathy; it lacks responsibility and independent thought; consequently, we realize it is a figure manipulated by others, merely executing the predetermined instructions of the system.
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Zaza Sopromadze
The Underground Man
Based on Dostoevsky's famous, somewhat programmatic short story, the performance follows in the footsteps of the literary source, aiming to explore the deepest and most hidden layers of the human world. First and foremost, the play is a confession of a fallen and degraded individual before himself and the audience.
Distinguished by its expressiveness and inner dynamic, the production reminds society that within every person lies a phenomenon carefully and deeply hidden from others, and that an "underground man" may well be nestled within the world of each and every one of us.
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Davit Bukhrikidze
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" - Directed by Dato Dojashvili
Following his departure from the "New Theater" and the Ministry of Culture's de facto cancellation of the theater, DatoDojashvili returns once again to Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (he staged the first version about 7–8 years ago at the Vaso Abashidze Music and Drama Theatre). At the Royal District Theatre, he breathes life into a postmodern "dream" woven from nightmarish, poetic visions that are radically different from the classical comedy. The scale of the play is so all-encompassing that the director equally incorporates ABBA hits, elements of musical comedy and existential drama, and the dark or exhausted psychoanalytical layers of hyperactive characters. Starring: Giviko Baratashvili, Nikusha Bakradze, Salome Topuria, Manu Tavadze, Sandro Samkharadze, LashaMebuke, Taso Chanturaia.
Set designer Keti Nadibidze and costume designer Simon Machabeli create a space built from mirrors and artificial flowers, where the surroundings of the Athenian forest are inspired by playful irony and Shakespeare's multi-layered poetry. However, the stage sometimes transforms into a battleground for the characters' subconscious and fears. In the three-hour performance, the director balances the sequence of poetry, madness, and sexuality with calm, histrionic final sensations. Yet, this is only a temporary respite, a temporary catching of breath... because, for instance, the small role of the unjustly imprisoned actor, Andro Chichinadze, is recorded from prison, and the audience only hears him while seeing a photo of the young actor himself on the screen. And indeed, Shakespeare aside, "Was what we saw here a dream?"
"Maro" (Directed and Choreographed by Tata Tavdishvili, TatoGeliashvili)
The physical theater company named HOI, which is not even two years old, has already managed to achieve international recognition with the play "Maro." This project, a winner at the Venice Biennale (Biennale College), was performed in the summer of 2026 in Switzerland at Bellinzona's prestigious international festival. For the young creators (Tata Tavdishviliand Tato Geliashvili), the figure of 19-year-old Maro Makashvili—who heroically died at Tabakhmela in 1921—serves not only as an example to re-evaluate the history of Russian occupation, but also as a living inspiration to convey the pain and message of today's generation through the language of physical theater and elements of puppet theater, without excessive pathos.
The intensity of the dramatic foundation, the diversity of plastic and expressive forms, and the language of physical theater create a clear emotional connection in the performance specifically with today's audience. Thus, alongside delving into the past, "Maro" simultaneously sparks an intense desire to rethink freedom... all against the backdrop of the twentieth century's perpetually "creeping Russian occupation"! It is worth noting that the play gains exceptional intensity and intimacy on a relatively small, chamber stage. However, in Bellinzona, on a large festival stage, it acquired an entirely different scale and significance, as attested to by the responses of foreign critics.
“Friday” – Directed and Choreographed by Tinatin Tsuladze
Non-verbal, physical, and dance theatre is increasingly establishing its place in Georgia. A concrete example of this is Tinatin Tsuladze’s “Friday,” which she staged at Theatre Workshop 42. A young female student goes to a club on a Friday evening to pass the time. In this seemingly banal story and one-hour performance, much is dictated by contemporary dance theatre, club aesthetics, excessive and expressive gestures, and—imagine this—Ettore Scola’s famous 1980s film “Le Bal” (The Ball).
There are about twenty characters on stage, whose passions, conflicts, and movements create a shared psycho-emotional wave. The performance features exclusively dramatic theatre actors: Ruska Makashvili, Ani Imnadze, Nina Lortkipanidze, Keti Giorgadze, Mari Giorgobiani, Anuki Sharia, and others…
The choreographer creates a kind of “social mask,” because the club's atmosphere is built on contrast. It is a gathering place for people who appear colorful and full of energy on the outside, yet a sense of loneliness awakens in almost all of them, and an inner exhaustion lies dormant. The club's chaos is fueled and brought to life by emotional diversity—ranging from the choreographer's healthy humor to the actors' self-irony. Irony is also clearly readable during the performance of collective dances saturated with erotic elements, where a sharp eye will also spot echoes of Bob Fosse and parodies of contemporary club dances. The musical concept of “Friday” was compiled by Tinatin Tsuladzeherself. The amplitude ranges from Prokofiev to contemporary electronic music, and it is precisely the music of the performance that exposes the characters' inner emptiness, their longing for romanticism, or simply their sense of freedom.