30 December 1972
Premiere of the performance "Hanuma" in BDT
The vaudeville of Auxentius Tsagareli, written at the end of the 19th century, was revised by the popular comedians Boris Racer and Vladimir Konstantinov. Georgy Tovstonogov not only staged the play, but also read poetry of Grigory Orbeliani in it, translated by Nikolai Zabolotsky. The production was staged by the artist Joseph Sumbatashvili, and the music for it was written by composer Gia Kancheli. Lyudmila Makarova, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Efim Kopelyan, Nikolai Trofimov were employed at Khanum. The performance immediately fell in love with the audience and withstood more than 300 performances. According to the memoirs of the artist Eduard Kochergin, the celebrations on the occasion of the premiere were combined in the theatre with the celebration of the New Year 1973 - the actors and their families gathered at the BDT at night, and Gia Kancheli and choreographer Yuri Zaretsky brought delicacies from Georgia for the feast.
