Tbilisi theatre delights audience at Hungarian festival

Audiences fortunate enough to see sold-out performances at an international theatre festival in Hungary's capital Budapest were delighted with a performance by Tbilisi's Vaso Abashidze Music and Drama State Theatre last weekend.

For two days the Madach International Theatre Meeting hosted performances of the play The Lower Depths, presented by the Georgian troupe on April 15 and 16.

The performances saw 16 Georgian actors bring the famous 1902 work by Russian writer Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) to life.

Actors of the Music and Drama State Theatre perform The Lower Depths, directed by David Doiashvili. Photo by Dima Saralidze.

The Music and Drama State Theatre was one of 22 companies participating in the event. Other troupes came from Italy, Russia, France, Poland, Switzerland and more.

The Lower Depths, Gorky's play on people living in poverty near the Volga River in Russia, was staged by director David Doiashvili and presented at the Madach International Theatre Meeting with Hungarian and English subtitles.

A scene from The Lower Depths, performed by the Vaso Abashidze Music and Drama State Theatre. Photo by Dima Saralidze.

The drama about "the fates, longings, and disappointments of people who have sunk into destitution and despair" was presented during a performance spanning nearly three hours.

After the performance the play's staging team met theatre critics, festival organisers and media at the festival club.

This was the Tbilisi-based theatre troupe's second visit to the Madach International Theatre Meeting. The performers first graced the stage in Budapest with a performance of the Shakespearian play Macbeth in 2014.

This year’s festival launched on April 11 and will run until Sunday, April 24.

The full program of performances can be viewed on the festival's official website here.