The German Theater is a Republican Academic Drama Theater, which has a 40-year history in the Kazakh land. In its work, the theater tries to combine the academic traditions with modern theatrical practices, using expressive means of European and world drama. Also, the theater strives to incorporate the cultural and spiritual heritage of the people into its performances.
History of the theater
The first German theater group was created on February 6, 1975 by the order of the Ministry of Culture of the Kazakh SSR. In the same year, a special acting course was recruited at the Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theater School and five years later, 29 certified artists arrived in Temirtau city, where they were to become part of the country’s first professional German theater. The official opening date of the Republican German Drama Theater is December 26, 1980. On this day, the premiere of the “The First” stage play based on the play by the famous writer Alexander Raimgen took place.
The theater of the first decade was focused on mobile activities in the locations, where the ethnic Germans lived en masse and became a kind of flagship of the Renaissance movement. The very names of the plays and performances spoke about what the actors wanted to share and hear.
52 actors were part of the troupe of the German Theater in the first ten years of its existence. The repertoire included over 40 performances in German and Russian. In 1989, the theater moved to Almaty.
German Theater today
The German theater has been actively developing already in independent Kazakhstan. The young theater actors are graduates of German course of the Temirbek Zhurgenov National Academy of Arts.
Also, the theater has a creative laboratory where the young directors, along with other theater groups in the city, can develop their ideas.
In addition, the theater is actively involved in the social and charitable activities and has experience working with the European directors, choreographers and artists. One of the main tasks of the theater is to expand the boundaries of creativity and present the Kazakh theatrical art at the international level. A theater has successfully participated in tours and international festivals in Germany,
Holland, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, Russia, Korea, Georgia, Uzbekistan and other countries.
Currently, the German Theatre is an active theatrical and creative platform with a great interest in modern innovations.
At present, the theater’s repertoire includes the best examples of world classics: “Three Sisters” by Anton Chekhov, “The Inspector General” by Nikolai Gogol, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare. They sound from the stage of the theater in the original director’s reading.
The performances based on plays by the modern European authors are presented as well: “Shaving Flights” by Kerstin Specht (Germany). Performances in German: “Final chorus” by Boto Strauss, “Andorra” by Max Frisch.
Also, there are works by Kazakh authors in the repertoire. For example, one of the most striking works of the theater is the “Karagoz” stage play, based on the play by the great Kazakh writer Mukhtar Auezov. According to the experts, this is a very modern performance, woven on the basis of the European plastic theatrical traditions. The production is the result of joint efforts with The Goethe Institute, with the help of which the stage play has been translated into German for the first time in the world. A performance is performed in the three languages — German and Kazakh with simultaneous translation into Russian. Along with the director Natasha Dubs, the director of this theatrical project was the famous choreographer from Germany Florian Bilbao.
With this performance, in December 2018, the German theater, among the three other creative teams, took part in the Euro Tour, which took place in five European capitals. The “Karagoz” stage play was seen by the residents of Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Vienna and Moscow.
Nowadays, the Republican German Drama Theater is going through another interesting period of its life, mastering its new location at 70/1 Papanina St. in Almaty.
It is worth noting that the Republican German Drama Theater is still the only professional German theater in the CIS countries, one of the institutions that preserve and popularize the German language and culture of Germany. Following this mission, it actively cooperates with the German cultural centers “Wiedergeburt”, as well as Kazakhstan’s Ethnic Assembly. In addition, it is in close partnership with the Goethe Institute of Kazakhstan, the Consulate General and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kazakhstan.
