June 20, 2008
Anna Rekhviashvili , Georgia Today

Small theatres with a limited audience space have proven their usefulness and popularity in Tbilisi. For many years, the Basement Theatre on Rustaveli Ave. has been one of the favorite places for Tbilisi youth to gather in the evenings, and tickets for the popular spectacles need to be booked at least a month before.

Today you can meet these “small area” theatres, or “small stages”, at big theatres, and probably because of their limited place and the close contact between the audience and the actors, or the informal environment, or whatever, they really create a very special and sweet spirit and quickly become beloved.

It will not be long before Tbilisi becomes richer with yet another one of these small stages, which will open at the Marjanishvili State Theatre and will be called the “Attic Theatre.” The theatre actually had a small stage already, which has been really successful with its performance “Love Cards”, but due to the fact that the place was really small and only two actors and 50 spectators could hardly breathe there, the idea of small stage performances moved to another room of the theatre. So, with the initiation of the well-known and beloved director Levan Tsuladze, who actually was a director of the original Basement Theatre, an area for a musical band was altered to become a new small theatre in the Marjanishvili Theatre building. So now it will be possible for Marjanishvili Theatre to host two different performances at the same time.

The “Attic Theatre” has a separate entrance on Uznadze Street, and the number of seats inside is 100.

Although the working season for Tbilisi theatre evenings is coming to the end, the new small theatre still is planning to hold two premieres soon.

“Attic Theatre” will open with a performance of “Ferkhuli” on June 25. The spectacle is staged according Artur Shnitseli’s script. The director of the spectacle is Levan Tsuladeze and many famous actors and actresses, such as Irakli Chilikashvili, Davit Khurtsilava, Zura Berikashvili, Teona Qoqosashvili, Ronald Oqropiridze and others are taking part.

The second premiere is going to take place in the beginning of July; “The Landscape Lacks Warmth” is the name of the spectacle which will be staged by Dima Gvtisiashvili.

Naturally, it is not the end and several new projects for the new season and especially for the specifics of “the small stage theatre” are already planned.