Baku, March 18, AZERTAC

Shusha city of Azerbaijan – the pearl of Karabakh, which was liberated from Armenia's decades-long illegal occupation on November 8, 2020, is also the birthplace of a renowned Azerbaijani theater director and actor Shamsi Badalbayli.

His father Badal bay Badalbayli and uncle Ahmad Aghdamski (Badalbayli) played a significant role in the revival of Azerbaijan’s national drama and music theater.

Badal Bay was both a teacher and an actor, performing in operettas, operas and plays. After graduating from high school, he followed in his father's footsteps and studied at the Baku Pedagogical College.

Shamsi Badalbayli, who played as an amateur actor as a student, entered the class of folk instruments of the Azerbaijan State Conservatory in 1927. While he was a student, he played the tar in the small orchestra of the National Drama Theater.

Despite the age differences, young Shamsi had become friend with Jafar Jabbarli, Ismail Hidayatzade and director Alexander Tuganov.

In 1932, as an assistant director, he participated in the preparation of several performances.

Taking into account his artistic abilities, the People's Commissariat of Education sent him to Moscow in 1933 to study and gain experience. His teachers were great artists Kote Marcanashvili and Alexey Popov. He worked as an assistant director on Friedrich Schiller's play "Don Carlos", which was prepared for performance at the Mali Theater in Moscow.

Shamsi Badalbayli, who returned to Baku after graduation, was hired as a director of the Academic National Drama Theater and worked in this team until 1941. Later, Shamsi Badalbayli, who worked at the Young Workers newspaper and also as a theater critic, was sent to Tabriz, Iran, as an employee of the Vatan Yolunda (For the Motherland) newspaper.

Shamsi Badalbayli's performances were characterized by colorful charm, colorful form solution, sensitive musical sense, and ensemble of actors.