The Baku Puppet Theatre (formally Azerbaijan State Puppet Theatre named after Abdulla Shaig , az, Abdulla Şaiq adına Azərbaycan Dövlət Kukla Teatrı) is located on Neftchiler Avenue of

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

. It was built in 1910 by Polish architect

Józef Płoszko Józef Płoszko ( az, İosif Ploşko, russian: Иосиф Плошко; 1867–1931) was a Polish people, Polish architect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was the author of multiple architectural projects in Baku, Azerbaijan. Biogr ...

, initially as the

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define th ...

"Phenomenon"

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

.(Russian)Ш.С. Фатуллаев. Градостроительство и архитектура Азербайджана XIX-начала XX века, Ленинград, 1986, с. 229 The puppets vary in size from a few centimetres to double the size of a human.

Overview

The theatre building was erected at the

Baku Boulevard Baku Boulevard ( az, Dənizkənarı Milli Park, also known as National Park) is a promenade established in 1909 which runs parallel to Baku's seafront. Its history goes back more than 100 years, to a time when Baku oil barons built their mansion ...

when there was no greenery yet. The exhaust ventilation system was superseded by forced ventilation. When the movie theater was opened to the public in June 1910, its administration advertised the features of full air change, occurring every 15 minutes and special ozonator. Auditorium hall of the

was 24 m. in length, 11 m. in width, 10 m. in height. 400 seats were available in parterre. Additionally there were 7 loges, and in upper section 3 verandas.

History

History of the building

The first owner of “Phenomenon” cinema was M.Gofman. It was planning to rent the cinema hall for spectacles. Entrepreneurs were arranging a permission from city authorities to enlarge the building in the future. As a result, the architectural appearance of the building was completed by the monuments of 4 ancient mythological figures – Mercury, Bacchus, Poseidon and Aphrodite. In 1921, according to project of Azerbaijani architect

Zivar bey Ahmadbeyov Zivar bay Garay bay oglu Ahmadbayov ( az, Zivər bəy Əhmədbəyov 1873, Shamakhy-1925, Baku) was the first Azerbaijani architect with higher education. Biography In 1902, Zivar bay Ahmadbayov graduated from Saint-Petersburg State University o ...

the building was cardinally rebuilt for theatre "Satyragite".Фатуллаев, с. 231 “Phenomenon” operated as cinema, casino, Satyrogite theatre, Musical Comedy Theater and Museum of Agricultural Achievements till 1931.

History of Puppet Theatre

The idea to establish

Puppet Theatre Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performa ...

in state level was introduced by the organizer of Theater Museum, actor Molla Agha Babirli. On the initiative of theater activists led by Jafar Jabbarly, Puppet Theatre was founded in 1931 by the decision of Education Commission. The first spectacle of the Theatre was “Circus” played in 1932. Puppet Theatre operated independently in 1931–1941, and in 1946–1950, under

Azerbaijan State Theatre of Young Spectators Azerbaijan State Theater of Young Spectators () is a theatre located in the centre of Baku, Azerbaijan. History of the theater Azerbaijan State Theater of Young Spectators (ASTYS) was founded in 1928 as Baku Children’s Theater according to the ...

in 1941-1946 and

Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall The Muslim Magomayev Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall ( az, Müslüm Maqomayev adına Azərbaycan Dövlət Akademik Filarmoniyası), located in Baku, is the main concert hall in Azerbaijan built in 1910. Since 2006 Murad Adigozalzade i ...

in 1950. In 1964 “State” status was given to the theatre. Since 1975 plays for adult audience have been performing as well.

References

External links