Tbilisi International opens

After months of planning and not a little controversy, the Tbilisi International Festival of Theatre finally kicked off on 27 September with a performance of Romeo and Juliet directed by the renowned Lithuanian director Oskaras Korsunovas.

It had not been my intention to be in Tbilisi for the opening weekend but a review by Ian Herbert in Theatre Record told me it was a must see show - and he wasn't kidding. I've never seen a production of such exuberance; the fun and humour of the first half emphasising the waste of the final tragedy. The warring families run competing pizza parlours giving rise to battles of flour and dough and much physical action clambering over a magnificent set (designed by Jurate Paulekaite) of two identical kitchens not quite linked by a bridge. It's all a jolly romp, high spritis rather than deep menace, until Mercutio (a fantastic performance by Dainius Kazlauskas) goes head first into a bowl of flour and emerges with a completely white face. A short while later Tybalt, a remarkably brave performance by Darius Gumauskas who was hobbling around on a pair of crutches off stage, suffers the same fate.

Iremember the first R&J I saw in the late sixties (or was it early seventies?). One newspaper review was headlined 'Sad Romeo with a seasick look'. No chance of such a review with this production. Teenage love is full of angst but it's also full of joy and wonder and that's what Giedrius Savickas as Romeo and Rasa Samuolyte captured magnificently. Egle Mikulionyte extracted every ounce of humour from her performance as the Nurse and one moment that will certainly live in my memory is when she hides Romeo in - well no, you had to be there. Suffice to say it was very rude!

This production is now six years old and Korsunovas told me that I need to see his latest production, Hamlet. Soon as I can Oskaras!

The opening production was preceeded by a grand dinner for over 300 people. I wish I'd been told it was a black tie affair! Thankfully the wardrobe department at the Marjanishvili kitted me out with a reasonably acceptable suit if you didn't look to closely. Since I was asked to give one of the speeches I'd have felt very uncomfortable in the light linen suit I'd taken with me. Call me a traditionalist if you like but standards must be maintained. Entertainment was provided by the orchestra and singers of the Paliashvili Opera House.

The dinner was in the newly opened Radisson Iveria Hotel in what is now called Rose Revolution Square. Anyone who's visited Tbilisi in the last fifteen years will remember it as a hostel for refugees from Abkhazia - a bit of an eyesore to be frank. The new hotel is magnificent, affording panoramic views over the city from the floor to ceiling windows in the ultra modern rooms. What happened to the refugees? I hope they have been well housed in more suitable accommodation and I pray that they will eventually be able to return to their homes.