Robert Sturua’s Georgian Shakespearian (Part IV) What you will or Twelfth nights

Mystery of magic attraction of scenic art is difficult to solve. It is especially difficult, when you watch Robert Sturua’s hypnotizing carnival plays, The influence of those on viewer, we can compare to the films of Federico Fellini. Sturua’s performances, as well as Fellini’s films at the same time are imbued with carnivaling, sighting, joyful, sad and deep philosophical opinion, beyond of which, there is Vast unknown Universe,
In the play, Robert Sturua presented the stories from gospel as the play masquerade played for entertaining the Herzog Orsino, who had been inconsolably in love with Olivia.
As if, Sturua is trying to show the existence of two parallel Universes, not only on the stage, but also itself in the human. One is real earthly existence in the real Universe, another is metaphysical one – where everything has got it’s own values. In Robert Sturua’s performance as well as in play, the activity is being on in fabulous Illyria. This is the Universe, where the lords or subordinated people , wise jesters or fool wise
men, so called knights, who has got nothing of knighthood, drunkards, who occasionally says some wise statements are gathered together. Here everybody love , hate and laugh at each other. Almost all characters stage their small performances and they themselves are the directors and performers as well.
Bound between the reality and unreality is erased in the performance. Here everything is allowed. The plot realities are only the reason for staging to show the other side of our existence. Viewer guesses it in the end. Earlier viewer attentively watched the instant imitative and external life of the people living in Illyria. The accents’ movement is characteristic for the theatre language of Robert Sturua. Robert Sturua in his performance of ‘What you will or Twelfth nights’ director changed the accents in such a way that the main heroes of actiities are: Malvolio (Zaza Papuashvili), Maria (Nanuka Khuskivadze) Jester (Goga Gvelesiani) and Sir Toby (Guram Sagharadze).
The Human in Robert Sturua’s staging, couses sympathy, so does the fool and arrogant Malvolio, who becomes the victim of his arrogance. sturua’s intention way to make Malvolio the man charecter of the performance and The thanks to Zaza Papuashvili’s excellent performance and masterly improvisations it happend so.
Robert Sturua further more diversified the character of Malvolio, than put the characters of Viola, Olivia, Orsino and Sebastian on the back burner.
The symbol of power in ‘Twelfth Night’ of Robert Sturua is the wings of Angel instead of crown. These wings are moving from hand to hand during the play. Sometimes they are tied to the shoulders of Duke, Viola, Cesario and Jester or Malvolio and Olivia are playing the wings.
Performance is full of unexpected motions, characteristic for the theatre language of Robert Sturua. Start of the performance isn’t in the play, but suggested end by director is absolutely unexpected for the audience. In final of performance, playing the scene of Calvary, when the “Situations Comedy’ must have end happily after undoing the knot, it shockingly impresses the audience. Therefore the words were spread by the Duke Orsino with calmative tone. ‘Calm down, please calm down, we will have careless days, happiness and gladness will always have our country’ is very weak argument for audience. Though voice of breathing is hardly sounds in the hall. Theme of sin and regret in Sturua’s play is followed by an unexpected way out. These kind of unexpectedness is characteristic for his directing signature.