Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The international Russian drama theatre festival “Hearts of Four – Bridge of Friendship” opened in Tashkent on 14 October, bringing together theatre directors, artistic directors and actors from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to exchange experience and strengthen creative cooperation.
The festival was organised by the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo in Uzbekistan to mark the 25th anniversary of its activities. The project focuses on supporting Russian-language dramatic arts and strengthening cultural ties between participating countries through cooperation among theatre professionals.
The first day began with a discussion at the Russian House in Tashkent. Participants in a panel titled “A Bridge of Friendship Between Russian Theatres” presented their creative initiatives, discussed theatre festivals and shared their experiences of working in different countries.
Irina Staroselskaya, head of the Rossotrudnichestvo representative office in Uzbekistan, addressed the gathering. The discussion was moderated by festival curator Irina Khilkova.
Speakers included Yuri Ivlev, director of the Kostanay Regional Russian Drama Theatre; Sergei Fedotov, artistic director of Perm’s U Mosta Theatre; Sergei Bardakov, director of the Chingiz Aitmatov Russian Drama Theatre; and Munira Dadayeva, director of the Vladimir Mayakovsky State Russian Drama Theatre.
Representatives of Uzbek theatres, directors, teachers and theatre scholars also took part in the discussion. Each theatre has its own history, artistic traditions and relationship with its audience, making the exchange an opportunity to examine shared professional challenges from different perspectives.
The programme continued with a lecture by theatre scholar Alexander Platunov on repertoire policies at Russian theatres abroad.
An educational programme also began on the first day. Irina Avtushenko conducted workshops on stage speech, giving actors and young professionals an opportunity to develop their skills and learn about teaching approaches used at Russian theatre universities.
The festival's theatrical programme opened in the evening at the State Theatre of Young Spectators of Uzbekistan. Actors presented the “Maskharaboz Show”, prepared for the occasion, during the opening ceremony. After the performance, participants and guests continued their discussions at the festival club, sharing impressions and discussing the stage production.
For audiences, the festival offers an opportunity to discover different theatrical traditions and see how the artistic approaches of various countries are reflected on stage. For theatre professionals, it provides a platform for direct communication among theatre directors, stage directors, actors and educators.
The Hearts of Four project has been running since 2023. An important stage in its development was a meeting held in Samarkand in 2024, which brought together representatives of Russian drama theatres from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Hosting the festival gives Uzbekistan an opportunity to expand international cooperation in the arts, support its theatre companies and increase young people's access to professional experience.
The programme will continue over the coming days with further stage-speech workshops and seminars by Fedotov on the acting system developed by Mikhail Chekhov.
The festival schedule includes “Hamlet”, “Animal Stories”, “Puppy” and “The Lonely Boat”, as well as two productions by Perm’s U Mosta Theatre: “Marriage” and “Stepmother Samanishvili”.
The “Hearts of Four – Bridge of Friendship” festival aims to bring together people whose lives are devoted to theatre, preserve shared cultural heritage, pass professional experience on to younger generations and develop humanitarian ties between the participating countries.
