LIFE ON A STRING
by Devi Berdzenishvili and Maria Mirzoyan

Transitions on Line
Dec 4 2009
Czech Rep.

Recalling an artistic institution of Armenian Tbilisi, before it
disappears.

Click here to watch a slide show about the Davtyan Family Marionette
Theater.

In 1993 the Tbilisi State Armenian Drama Theater mounted a new
production of the famous Armenian folk tale Khach Nazar (Brave Nazar).

That this oft-told satiric story of undeserving, battle-hungry
rulers would be staged in Georgia’s capital at a time of civil war
and economic strife is not surprising. What was remarkable about this
performance was the cast – a troupe of puppets built and brought to
life by the Armenian master Garegin "Gary" Davtyan.

DAVTYAN’S ‘SELF-PORTRAIT.’

Soon afterward Davtyan launched his own puppet playhouse in the family
apartment in Avlabar, a historically Armenian enclave in old Tbilisi.

Here the artist – a sculptor, painter, and mechanical engineer who
had focused on puppetry since the late 1960s – had his studio and his
stage. With the help of his wife, Zhanna, and their children, Anna
and Giorgi, he created what Georgian art critic Marina Medzmariashvili
calls "one of the brightest phenomena of Tbilisi urban culture."

Medzmariashvili places Davtyan in the long line of great Armenian
artists from Tbilisi, such as filmmaker Sergei Parajanov and writer
Hovhanness Tumanyan (author of the most famous version of Khach Nazar).

Davtyan died in 2002 at age 55 of a blood disease. Since then his
family has maintained the theater, continuing to manipulate his
expressive handmade characters in frequent, usually impromptu,
and always free performances for audiences ranging from local
schoolchildren to international celebrities.

Giorgi, a 35-year-old magazine layout editor, said he and his sister,
now 31, who works at the Armenian Embassy in Tbilisi, acquired their
father’s obsession in their student years. "We became engrossed
headlong in this pursuit, forgetting about day-to-day activities,
responsibilities, sleep, and food," he recalls. "Our puppet theater
became the job of our life. And to some extent it remains so today."

Giorgi’s 11-year-old daughter, Alexandra, is a budding puppeteer
as well.

But the puppet playhouse’s days may be numbered, at least in its
original incarnation, as urban renewal takes hold in Avlabar. As
in other older parts of Tbilisi, the Armenian district’s ramshackle
buildings, including the one housing the Davtyan theater, are slated
for demolition to make way for modern homes. "Nothing has been decided
yet, but it’s a matter of time," Zhanna Davtyan says.

The change is welcomed by locals, who will be moved out of crumbling
old buildings and relocated by investors in the development project.

Even Zhanna is philosophical about the situation: "Sooner or later
the house will be demolished. And it will be done by law – nothing to
complain about." She hopes to re-establish the puppet theater in her
new home but acknowledges it will not be the same: "It’s unbearable to
watch Gary’s life’s work be wiped off the face of the earth," she says.

Alexandra Davtyan, 11, performs with her grandmother and aunt.

Photo by Zaven Sarksyan.

Devi Berdzenishvili covers culture, politics, and the economy
for Russian-language publications in Tbilisi and writes for the
Moscow-based daily Argumenti I Fakti. Maria Mirzoyan is a Tbilisi
native now based in Yerevan, where she writes for the arts magazine
MenQ.