Rezo Gabriadze Marionette Theatre
Eighty-seat marionette theatre in Tbilisi's old town, known for its leaning tiled clock tower.
The writer, film-maker and artist Rezo Gabriadze opened his marionette theatre on Shavteli Street in 1981, in a lane between the Anchiskhati basilica and the Mtkvari river. It is a very small house, seating about eighty, and Gabriadze wrote, designed and directed its productions himself, carving many of the puppets. The repertoire is short and has changed little: Alfred and Violetta, the first piece staged in 1981, is still played alongside Ramona, The Autumn of My Springtime, Marshal de Fantie's Diamond and The Eccentrics.
The plays are performed in Georgian with surtitles and run to about an hour, mixing comedy, wartime memory and provincial nostalgia; The Battle of Stalingrad and Ramona have toured widely in Europe and North America. In 2010 Gabriadze added a leaning clock tower beside the entrance, built from salvaged brick and tile, with a gilded angel that strikes the hour. Twice a day small doors open and a mechanical puppet sequence called The Circle of Life plays out above the street.
Highlights
- Auditorium of about eighty seats in a converted old-town house
- Leaning clock tower of salvaged brick and tile, added in 2010
- Mechanical puppet show at the tower daily at 12:00 and 19:00
- Repertoire of marionette plays written and designed by Rezo Gabriadze
