Wednesday, january 17, 2017 inside nation healthcare minister reports on new infrastructure development plan A2

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2017

CULTURE

B3

NATION&CAPITAL

A scene from “Ahiko from Aktas” play staged in Tokyo.

Tokyo audience welcomes Kazakh theatre with deeply moving play

By Assel Satubaldina

ASTANA – A full house of 

800, many of whom waited in 

line for a seat, were recently 

treated to Almaty’s Auezov 

Theatre presentation of the 

play “Ahiko from Aktas.” The 

programme also featured Uly 

Dala Eli, a concert with theatre 

soloists and dancers perform-

ing portions of the well-known 

play “Kyz Zhybek” and singing 

Kazakh songs.

“We came to Tokyo as part of 

the Rukhani Janghyru (Moderni-

sation of Kazakhstan’s Identity) 

programme and its Modern Ka-

zakhstan Culture in Global World 

project organised by the Ministry 

of Culture and Sports and sup-

ported by the Embassy of Ka-

zakhstan in Japan,” said theatre 

director Yerlan Bilalov as he wel-

comed the audience.

The play centres on Ahiko Tet-

suro, a Japanese man arrested by 

Soviet authorities in 1948 while 

he was a student. He was one of 

more than 100 people, including 

women with newborns, sent to a 

concentration camp in a remote 

area of Kazakhstan where he fell 

victim to Soviet purges.

After living through unspeak-

able nightmares, including severe 

famine, the captives were re-

leased six years later. Unlike his 

fellow detainees, however, Tet-

suro chose to remain in Kazakh-

stan rather than return to Japan. 

He married and the couple settled 

in Aktas village in Karaganda re-

gion.

The emotional story of their 

fellow citizen left the audience 

in tears. The hall broke into ap-

plause as the 87-year-old Tetsuro 

walked on the stage at the end of 

the play.

Director Askhat Maemirov not-

ed the piece was written in a new 

dramatic genre.

“Documental drama is well de-

veloped in Russia and Europe. It 

is the first time in the history of 

the Kazakh theatre that a person 

is telling the story of his life. The 

play was written based on his-

torical facts. We wanted to show 

the nightmare that Tetsuro lived 

through, tell about his soul,” he 

said.

The visitors included Japanese 

fan club members of Kazakh ris-

ing star Dimash Kudaibergen.

“It was incredible, especially 

the way the actors played their 

roles. Today, I watched the play 

for the second time and I am still 

deeply touched. I could not stop 

crying when I watched it for the 

first  time.  Today,  I  tried  to  hold 

back my emotions to be more at-

tentive to details and be able to 

better understand the history. The 

actors are wonderful. Tetsuro 

chose Kazakhstan, where he now 

lives, on his own. It is amazing. 

The play shows us how important 

peace and friendship are for us,” 

noted club chair Yuriko Volker, as 

quoted by Tengrinews.

Japan Foundation President Hi-

royasu Ando noted the drama is 

a great achievement for Kazakh-

stan and Japan, serving as an ad-

ditional stimulus to strengthening 

friendly ties between the nations.

“Everything was beautiful. The 

life of Ahiko was conveyed in a 

very emotional way. I would love 

to visit Kazakhstan. We are work-

ing on various projects. It will be 

great if they are implemented. 

We would love to familiarise the 

Kazakh audience with Japanese 

culture,” he said, as quoted by 

Tengrinews.

Kazakhstan President Nursul-

tan Nazarbayev told Tetsuro’s 

story when he addressed the 

Japanese parliament in Tokyo in 

November 2016. He stressed the 

lives of many Japanese people are 

bound to Kazakhstan and the ac-

count is one of the brightest ex-

amples of fortitude and courage 

of Japanese prisoners of war.

Astana Opera 

to perform in Almaty

By Yerbolat Uatkhanov

ASTANA – Astana Opera will 

be touring to the cultural capital of 

Kazakhstan – Almaty. The opera 

plans to present a rich programme 

featuring world art masterpieces 

at the Abai Opera House, the alma 

mater of opera and ballet. The tour, 

to be held Feb. 10-18 under the 

Rukhani Janghyru programme, is 

supported by the Ministry of Cul-

ture and Sports.

“This tour is very important for 

us, first and foremost, because we 

are performing for the people of 

Kazakhstan – our native viewers. 

Most of the artists of our company 

will appear onstage in front of their 

teachers, who will assess their pro-

fessional growth. This is another 

exam for all of us. In general, 

every company needs a touring 

life and exchange of experience,” 

said Astana Opera Director Galym 

Akhmedyarov in an interview with 

The Astana Times.

The tour will begin with the out-

standing work of Kazakh musical 

art – the classical opera “Abai.” 

The production will be presented 6 

p.m., Feb. 10 and 11, led by Astana 

Opera Maestro and Principal Con-

ductor Alan Buribayev.

“We did not choose the op-

era ‘Abai’ for the Almaty tour by 

chance; this work became the hall-

mark of our national art. By per-

forming this opera, we pay hom-

age to the oldest Kazakh opera and 

ballet theatre named after Abai,” 

said Akhmedyarov.

The masterpiece, based on the 

libretto of Kazakh writer Mukhtar 

Auezov, is the story of Kazakh 

poet, educator and philosopher 

Abai Kunanbayev.

The roles will be performed by 

Sundet Baigozhin and Zhanat Shy-

bykbayev, Meir Bainesh, Nurlan 

Bekmukhambetov, opera prima 

Maira Mukhamedkyzy and Sal-

tanat Akhmetova. Tatyana Vitsin-

skaya, baritone Yerzhan Saipov, 

Talgat Galeyev, Barseg Tuman-

yan, Bolat Yessimkhanov and 

mezzo-soprano Malika Minisini 

will debut as well.

The production was fashioned 

by Kazakh and Italian artists. The 

staging was created by Italian di-

rector Giancarlo del Monaco; the 

consulting director is Professor 

Yesmukhan Obayev and Yer-

zhan Dautov is chief choirmaster. 

Contemporary set designer Ezio 

Frigerio and Academy Award-

winning costume designer Franca 

Squarciapino are responsible for 

the design.

On Feb. 14, Astana Opera will 

present “Manon” by 20th-century 

choreographer Kenneth MacMil-

lan. The ballet is based on the 

novel “L’Histoire du Chevalier 

des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut” 

by Abbé Prévost. The production 

was added to the opera’s repertoire 

relatively recently, as the premiere 

was held April 28. Choreographers 

Karl Burnett and Patricia Ruanne, 

keepers of the Royal Ballet tra-

ditions, staged the work at the 

capital’s opera house. The music 

director and conductor is Arman 

Urazgaliyev and the ballet is or-

chestrated and arranged by Martin 

Yates, with set and costume de-

signer Nicholas Georgiadis.

The production was added to 

the opera house’s repertoire thanks 

to the company’s artistic director 

Altynai Assylmuratova. She has 

danced the title role many times at 

London’s legendary Royal Opera 

House, working on the portrayal 

personally with MacMillan. The 

production team responded to her 

proposal with great joy to revive the 

masterpiece on the Kazakh stage.

Madina Basbayeva will perform 

the part of Manon and Rustem 

Seitbekov will act as Des Grieux. 

Bakhtiyar Adamzhan, Zhanibek 

Imankulov, Anel Rustemova and 

Arman Urazov will also have 

roles.

Roland Petit’s ballet “Notre 

Dame de Paris” set to the music of 

Maurice Jarre, to be presented Feb. 

17 and 18, will conclude the tour. 

The production is popular through-

out the world, yet is not featured 

in most opera houses. France’s 

Les Ballets Roland Petit Founda-

tion has granted the Kazakh opera 

house exclusive rights to recreate 

the production.

Almaty resident invents Kazakh-style 

Game of Thrones board game

Staff Report

ASTANA – Almaty resident Ko-

bylanda Zhanabekuly has brought 

“Game of Thrones” to his own 

country as the inventor of the board 

game Kazakh Khanate. It has been 

patented and is unique to the nation.

Kazakh Khanate has 40 different 

tribes  across  a  field  representing 

the three zhuzes (the three largest 

conglomerations of tribes in the 

Kazakh nation) and players must 

gather as many villages and auls 

as possible. The game takes them 

to the times of the great conquests, 

with the action unfolding on the 

board. Players have chips, cards 

and precise calculations in their ar-

senals and are given 30 minutes to 

beat their opponent.

When players’ chips intersect, 

they need to battle and resolve any 

dispute by resorting to help from 

batyrs, sultans, tulpars and sarbazs 

– mighty warriors, warlords, flying 

horses and soldiers, accordingly.

Zhanabekuly worked for nearly 

a year to develop Kazakh Khanate, 

which includes features similar to 

chess, backgammon and monopo-

ly. Before releasing the game, he 

tested the rules with players of var-

ious ages and walks of life, from 

7-year-olds to retirees.

“The game is called Kazakh Khan-

ate because you play as a sultan – the 

way Abylai, Kassym, Zhanibek and 

Kerey khans played in the very be-

ginning. They united tribes and the 

more Kazakhs you unite, the higher 

your status rises, and whoever has 

the biggest number of tribes first will 

become a khan,” he said.

Kazakh Khanate combines the 

traditions and customs of the Ka-

zakh people. When a player’s chip 

lands on the Bazaar tile, for exam-

ple, he or she uses cards with de-

scriptions of different rituals which 

help secure the desired territory.

The first batch of 500 copies is al-

ready on sale. Prices vary from 15,000 

tenge ($45) to 20,800 tenge ($63).

A scene from “Manon” ballet performed by Rustem Seitbekov  

and Madina Basbayeva.

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