Kote Marjanishvili
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Konstantine "Kote" Marjanishvili ( ka, კონსტანტინე (კოტე) მარჯანიშვილი), also known by the
Russified Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
name Konstantin Aleksandrovich Mardzhanov (russian: Константи́н Алекса́ндрович Марджанов) (May 28, 1872 – April 17, 1933), was a
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
theater director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
regarded as an important contributor to the pre- and post-revolutionary evolution of Georgian,
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n and
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
stages.Rayfield, Donald] (2000), '' The Literature of Georgia: A History'', pp. 213-4.
Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...
, .
One of the most prestigious and professional of Georgia’s directors, he was particularly famous for his lavish and massive theater shows.Mikaberidze, Alexander (ed., 2007
Marjanishvili, Konstantine
''Historical Dictionary of Georgia''. Retrieved on November 1, 2017.


Early career

He was born to a well-to-do literary family of an army officer in
Kvareli Kvareli (, ) is a town in northeastern in Kakheti Province, Georgia. Located in the Alazani Valley, near the foothills of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, it was the birthplace of Georgian author Ilia Chavchavadze, whose one-storied house is pr ...
, eastern Georgia, then part of the
Tiflis Governorate The Tiflis Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire with its administrative center in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). In 1897, it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population ...
,
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
. After acting and directing in his native country from 1893 to 1909, he went to Russia proper, Russifying his surname as Mardzhanov. He worked for Russian provincial theaters as an actor, then as a director, until he established himself in the
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
Nezlobin troupe in 1906 and later co-founded the Georgian Drama Studio with
Alexander Yuzhin Alexander Ivanovich Yuzhin (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ю́жин; 1857–1927) was a stage name of the Georgian Prince Sumbatov (Sumbatashvili), who dominated the Malyi Theatre of Moscow at the turn of the 19th and 20th ce ...
. He quickly gained a reputation as one of the most talented followers of the well-known Russian actor and theater director
Konstantin Stanislavsky Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian Soviet Fe ...
(1863-1938). As a director, Marjanishvili’s main technique was to guide the actor in finding an instinctive path to realizing "outer truth". In 1910, his versatility was recognized by Stanislavsky himself who invited him at the same time as
Edward Gordon Craig Edward Henry Gordon CraigSome sources give "Henry Edward Gordon Craig". (born Edward Godwin; 16 January 1872 – 29 July 1966), sometimes known as Gordon Craig, was an English modernist theatre practitioner; he worked as an actor, director and ...
to open up the repertoire and production techniques of the
Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; russian: Московский Художественный академический театр (МХАТ), ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ)) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was f ...
. There he staged works by
Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective a ...
and
Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
and assistant-directed the Nemirovich-Danchenko ''
Brothers Karamazov ''The Brothers Karamazov'' (russian: Братья Карамазовы, ''Brat'ya Karamazovy'', ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing '' ...
'' (1910) and the Craig ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' (1911).Stanton, Sarah and Banham, Martin (1996), ''The Cambridge Paperback Guide to Theatre'', p. 230.
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, .
Fascinated by Craig’s stylized manner of using puppets, Marjanishvili temporarily returned to Georgia to stage
Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...
in a similar spirit. In 1913, he broke with Stanislavsky due to his left-wing sympathies and his interest in
decadence The word decadence, which at first meant simply "decline" in an abstract sense, is now most often used to refer to a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, honor, discipline, or skill at governing among the members of ...
, and organized the eclectic "Free Theater", where he staged opera, operetta, drama and pantomime. The enterprise, notable for its ties with the composer
Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
and the singer
Feodor Chaliapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; April 12, 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass v ...
, and for its Georgian-type choreography, was rendered abortive in a year due largely to financial problems. He then moved to
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...
, where he directed the local theater from 1914 to 1915.


Post-revolution years

Marjanishvili’s 1917 production of
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
’s '' Salomé'' was a true triumph and continued to be staged during the tumultuous years of
revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
and
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
in
Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
(Kiyv,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
), Moscow,
Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
(St. Petersburg, Russia), and Tiflis (
Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...
, Georgia). Marjanishvili’s simultaneous experiments with festive staging in Rostov-on-Don (1914-15) and Petrograd (1916-17) led him to coordinate the mass spectacle ''Toward a Worldwide Commune'' (co-directed by Nikolai Petrov, Sergei Radlov, Vladimir Solovyov and
Adrian Piotrovsky Adrian Ivanovich Piotrovsky (russian: Адриа́н Ива́нович Пиотро́вский) ( – 21 November 1937) was a Russian Soviet dramaturge, responsible for creating the synopsis for Sergei Prokofiev's ballet '' Romeo and Juliet''. He ...
, 1920). For years, he also worked in films (1916-28). Returning to the recently Sovietized Georgia in 1922, he led the
Rustaveli Theater Rustaveli National Theatre ( ka, შოთა რუსთაველის სახელობის აკადემიური თეატრი ) is the largest and one of the oldest theaters of Georgia, located in its capital Tbilisi on ...
in Tbilisi. By that time, the energetic young director
Sandro Akhmeteli Sandro Akhmeteli ( ka, სანდრო ახმეტელი; real name: Aleksandre Akhmetelashvili, ალექსანდრე ახმეტელაშვილი) (April 13, 1886 – June 27, 1937) was a Georgian theater director wh ...
had also returned to Tbilisi to lead the younger actors in a coup against the establishment. The two men collaborated with respect and unease, but Akhemeteli’s nearly despotic rule over his artistic corporation "Duruji" proved too violent for Marjanishvili whose production had become more restrained, motivated by his own conviction that "there’s enough suffering in life without showing it on the stage." In 1926, he and part of the company left to form a provincial touring theatre, centered on
Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...
and
Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...
, leaving Akhmeteli in sole control of the Rustaveli Theater. The new theater came to be known as The Second State Georgian Theater and would eventually be named the
Marjanishvili Theater Kote Marjanishvili State Academic Drama Theatre ( ka, კოტე მარჯანიშვილის სახელობის სახელმწიფო აკადემიური დრამატული თეატრი) i ...
after its founder (1933). The theater is still functional in Tbilisi and continues Marjanishvili’s eclectic and somewhat conformist traditions. In his later years, Marjanishvili worked at the Korsh Theater (Театр Корша) (1931-1932), the Maly Theater (Малый театр) and the Operetta Theater in Moscow (1933). Marjanishvili’s new repertoire was largely Russian and conformed to
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
doctrine, which won him awards at the Moscow Drama Olympiad of 1930. Yet, menacing charges against Marjanishvili soon began to appear in the Soviet press. He died of illness in Moscow on 17 April 1933 before the worsening political climate led to
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
's
Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...
which would take the life of Marjanishvili’s erstwhile collaborator and rival Sandro Akhemeteli in 1937.


Filmography

* ''
Before the Hurricane ''Before the Hurricane'' ( translit. ''Qarishkhlis tsin'', ''Burevestnik'' in Russian) is a 1924 Georgian black-and-white silent film directed by Kote Marjanishvili based on a script by Shalva Dadiani. Plot The film is set in 1905 in a texti ...
'', 1924 * ''
Krazana ''Krazana'' ( ka, კრაზანა) is a 1928 Georgian SSR, Georgian black-and-white silent film directed by Kote Marjanishvili. It is based on the 1897 novel ''The Gadfly'' by Ethel Lilian Voynich. "Krazana" means wasp in Georgian languag ...
, 1926 * '' Amok'', 1927


Notes


External links

* in
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References

* Шабалина, Татьяна (Shabalina, Tatiyana). "Марджанов, Константин Александрович." Энциклопедия Кругосвет (''Entsiklopediya Krugosvet''). Retrieved on May 7, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marjanishvili, Kote 1872 births 1933 deaths Burials at Mtatsminda Pantheon Theatre directors from Georgia (country) Soviet theatre directors