"Mangurt"

Age limit: 13+

Author: Chingiz Aitmatov

Genre: Epic Narrative

Language: Azerbaijan

Performance duration: 45 minutes

Staging and director: Izama Babayeva

Artist: Ilham Elkhanoglu

"Mangurt", staged based on the world-famous Chingiz Aitmatov's famous novel "Day is equal to an age", is shown on the Abbas Mirza Sharifzade stage of the Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theater.

Mangurt is an unconscious slave mentioned in Turkic, Altai and Kyrgyz legends. A person who wants to be turned into a mangurt is shaved, wrapped in a wet camel skin and kept in the sun with his arms tied. Camel skin becomes stretched as it dries, and the stretched skin compresses the head and causes terrible pain. At this time, a person reaches the point of losing his mind, loses his memory, and becomes a mangurt. Mangurtized person loses his memory, forgets his past, including his mother, language, religion, and nation, and eventually becomes a slave and a robot. It is easy to control a person who has become a robot, a mangurt and a slave. In the work, this cruel punishment was applied by Juanjuans. This is how they treat the captives they capture in their territories. In 2018, the play was shown at the International Festival dedicated to the anniversary of "Ch. Aytmatov-90" held in Beshkek, Kyrgyzstan, and Honored Artist Mehriban Khanlarova was awarded the honorary title of "Best Female Performer". The play is in the repertoire of the theater and is shown with great success.