Inspiration, Countercultural Aesthetics, and Dissent: the Ilkhom Theatre of Mark Weil.
Yakubovskaya, Irina.
2019
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This dissertation examines the history of the Ilkhom Theatre of
Mark Weil during four chronologically continuous but socio-politically distinct
phases. The history of Ilkhom represents a rich topic which combines an
extraordinary theatrical style, a drama school, and several layers of various
cultures and eras superimposed one on another. While the Ilkhom Theatre still
exists today, this ... read moredissertation explores the Ilkhom of the past. In particular, I
focus on four eras of Ilkhom history, all of which are inseparably connected to
its artistic leader - director Mark Weil. In this dissertation, I argue that the
Ilkhom theatre reinvented itself at every turn of history, following the objective
to keep functioning as a counter-cultural artistic community. It firmly positioned
itself as the first independent theatre in the Soviet Union, disregarding the
Soviet establishment roots of its existence. The Ilkhom mythology maintains that
Ilkhom was conceptualized and founded by director and producer Mark Weil.
historically, however, Weil was initially one of the artistic contributors at the
Ilkhom. Gradually, he emerged as the core artistic and managerial leader of the
company. Within the first decade of Ilkhom's existence, Mark Weil became
synonymous with his theatre. His personal and artistic identity became reflected
in Ilkhom's productions. As Weil's identity shifted and metamorphosized, his
creative vision changed directions, and took the theatre with him. Created in the
midst of declining Soviet economy and spirit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan by a
visionary director Mark Weil, Ilkhom drew inspiration from Russian, Western and
local Central Asian cultures. Despite its remote location within a non-Russian
socio-cultural area and its Uzbek name, productions of Ilkhom were predominantly
in the Russian language. The first decade of Ilkhom - 1976-1986- Ilkhom emerges
out of the studio for youth and culture, originally driven by the Soviet agenda.
During this time in Tashkent Ilkhom began developing its countercultural voice,
under the leadership of a young ambitious director Mark Weil. During the
Perestroika in the mid to late 1980s, Ilkhom acquired initial international
recognition by showcasing its avant-garde productions in the style of pantomime
and physical theatre. Throughout the first post-Soviet decade in the early 1990s
in Tashkent, Weil integrated intercultural practices into newly established Ilkhom
Drama School and developed pedagogical practices contrarian to the traditional
Russian and soviet theatre training culture. During the late 1990s Weil began
developing another new direction for Ilkhom, focusing on reexamination of local
history through the countercultural queer lens. This subversive exploration of
multicultural identity and history of Tashkent and its people attracted intense
criticism of the conservative elements of the Uzbek society, culminating in a
tragedy when in 2007 Mark Weil was assassinated allegedly in response to the
content of his theatre productions of the Tashkent Cycle.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2019.
Submitted to the Dept. of Drama.
Advisor: Laurence Senelick.
Committee: Vida Johnson, David Kaplan, and Kareem Khubchandani.
Keywords: Theater, Performing arts, and Theater history.read less - ID:
- 1r66jd46v
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