Theater Under a Lucky Star – Evgeny Ibragimov, Dimitar Dimitrov

Russia – Czech Republic

Evgueni Ibragimov is a Circassian director who has been touring the world for some thirty years, he is the winner of the Russian National Theatre’s GOLDEN MASK award and the winner of the Russian Federation Government Award in honour of Fyodor Volkov (2003). He directs puppet productions in major theatre companies and focuses his work on the relationship of creation to the creator, in spaces that are often dark and disturbing, where the spectator no longer knows who is an actor, a performer or an object.

His work and the strong bond that has been created between him and the actors of Moon Cabaret with whom he has been collaborating since their meeting in the summer of 2021 at the Festival d’Avignon is exceptional and will be a real moment of poetry and virtuosity during this edition of the Jardin Rouge.

Dimitar Dimitrov is a Bulgarian director, puppeter and puppet creator. After studies at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Art (Sofia), he toured all over Europe. He is also a board member at the puppet theatre Vlinders &Co (Beveren, Belgium).

Circassian Parable

Performance piece: The Old Fairy Tale of Luck – Theater Under a Lucky Star

A walnut wand, entwined with bunches of hazelnuts, soared upward, and the melodies instantly disappeared … the dancers scattered the circle, the crowd of spectators, as if a single organism, accepted them and created a new one. In its center was a man with a scepter.

“Excuse me if I make a mistake, I am telling what I heard …”, he began quietly, in a slightly singsong voice.

“Fairy tale!”

Fairy tales are an indispensable part of the jagu, Circassian merrymaking or carnival. In Europe, carnivals were held once a year, plunging people into a riot of fun and general jubilation. The wise Circassians performed jagu on all significant occasions: wedding, birth, death, battle. It was believed that this is how they attract good luck. Jaegu were the best form, at the same time- communication with God, a way to unite people and a manifestation of the conviction that a person is not a toy in the hands of fate and can win good luck from her.