Kutaisi epic in the work of Kote Marjanishvili

Abstract

Prominent Georgian director Kote Marjanishvili was born in Kvareli. It is true that he was the son of Alexander Marjanishvili, an Aznauri from Kutaisi, but in his biography, he always considered Kakheti as his native place. However, Kutaisi, as the basis of the Marjanishvili family, played a decisive role in his creative activity.

He performed for the first time on the Georgian stage in front of the Kutaisi audience under the direction of his cousin, Kote Meskhi, and he also continued to master his stage work.

Kote Marjanishvili also found his fortune in Kutaisi and he married a Russian boy, Nadezhda Zhivokina, completely young.

After 25 years of service in Russia, on September 25, 1922, Kote Marjanishvili returned to Georgia to pay his debt to his homeland and headed the Georgian Theater, where he established the Rustaveli Theater with the best forces of art.

In 1928 he founded the Second Georgian State Theater in Kutaisi in a similar way. Under Marjanishvili’s leadership, 27 plays were staged at the Kutaisi Theater, 19 of which belonged to contemporary authors.

Kote Marjanishvili closed the 1928-1929 season on the Kutaisi stage with an „evening“. The troupe was first taken to Tbilisi, then to Ukraine and Moscow, which was the first large-scale tour of the Georgian theater outside the republic.

The tours of the Kutaisi Theater were so important in the history of the Georgian theater that after the tour, a book was published in which all the important documents and materials were placed. Kutaisi theatrical team showed 16 performances during the tour, which was a great triumph.