A little angel with gilded wings strikes the hour on the bell of the clock tower of the Puppet Theatre in Tbilisi. Its chime seems to invite visitors into the extraordinary world of Rezo Gabriadze, an artist with a child's soul who knew how to bring inanimate objects to life and discover poetry in the most ordinary things. Audiences in Baku were given an opportunity to experience this magical universe as part of the Baku International Arts Festival (BIAF 2026).
At the Heydar Aliyev Center, the Rezo Gabriadze Tbilisi Marionette Theatre presented “Alfred and Violetta,” a tender, moving and subtly humorous love story inspired by Alexandre Dumas fils' novel “The Lady of the Camellias” and Giuseppe Verdi's opera “La Traviata”. The legendary Georgian playwright, artist, film director and sculptor Rezo Gabriadze left an indelible mark on world culture. Known for writing the screenplays of acclaimed films such as “Mimino,” “Don't Grieve!” and “Kin-dza-dza!”, as well as creating the beloved Chizhik-Pyzhik monument in St.
Petersburg, he possessed a rare gift for combining delicate humour, philosophical depth and genuine humanity. Puppet theatre occupied a special place in his artistic life. Gabriadze was the creator of his theatre in every sense: he conceived its distinctive artistic universe, personally designed and painted the ceramic tiles adorning its famous clock tower, crafted puppets, wrote plays and developed a unique theatrical aesthetic.
The story follows Alfred, a brilliant young astronomer, and Violetta, a beautiful red-haired orphan, whose love blossoms in Tbilisi during the turbulent early 1990s. Their romance begins in a house in the city's old Mtatsminda district. Gradually, the story moves beyond the narrow streets of old Mtatsminda.
Together with the protagonists, audiences travel to Milan, Rome, Venice, Khashuri, Abastumani and Digomi. These cities and places become part of an extraordinary narrative in which the personal destinies of the characters intertwine with the wider world. Small, colourful, slightly comical and deeply touching figures appear on stage, drawing the audience into a poetic and fragile universe built on absolute sincerity.
The barely visible strings in the hands of the puppeteers bring Alfred, Violetta, Germont and the Narrator to life. The puppets begin to breathe, move and speak. Eventually, the strings seem to disappear into the air, and the boundary between fiction and reality vanishes.
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