The Azerbaijan State News Agency

My Favourite Madman by Azerbaijani people`s writer Elchin Afandiyev sees UK premiere

London, April 10 (AZERTAC). Azerbaijani people`s writer Elchin Afandiyev`s My Favourite Madman play has had its UK premiere in London.

Organized by Tristan Bates Theatre, London-based Azerbaijan Society (AZICS) and ALOFF Theatre, the event was supported by Azerbaijan`s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the country`s Embassy in London.

The event was attended by embassy staffers, representatives of UK-based Azerbaijani companies, British officials and public figures.

Opening the event, AZICS chairman Sanan Aliyev provided an insight into the play by Elchin Afandiyev.

Azerbaijani ambassador Fakhraddin Gurbanov spoke of the importance of culture in diplomacy. He said cultural events played the role of a bridge between countries, making tremendous contribution to bringing people closer to each other and building friendly relations.

The ambassador highlighted life and career of Elchin Afandiyev, saying he had written more than 100 books, with his plays translated into over 40 languages.

Directed by Matthew Gould, the play was translated by Sanan Aliyev. It stars Richard Stirling, Oliver Mawdsley, Ralph Bogard, Daniel Robinson, Gareth Bennett-Ryan, Danny Wainwright, Andrew Sykes, Victoria Farley and Victoria Sye.

The plot is less important than the characters in the play, acting just as a framework and a reason for the characters to be on stage. Briefly put, the Professor of the mental hospital’s favourite madman is on the loose, a man who can change his face and manner so well that he could become anyone he pleases to escape detection. The action takes place in the editorial office of a newspaper in Azerbaijan just after the fall of the USSR where the chief editor seeks to manage his office full of raving mad employees in the face of his own disintegrating reality.

 

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