Who Are You, Effendi?, or Staging of Yet Another Nasreddin Hodja Story

Effendi is a prototype of a witty joker, Hodja Nasreddin, well known in the East and beyond.According to the legends that have survived to our days, not all people were happy to encounter him.

Pretentious noblemen, for instance, felt uneasy about his ironic jokes and witty tricks.However, Hodja Nasreddin had a kind and fair heart.By ridiculing rich men, Nasreddin managed to win people’s love.

Creative team of the Alp Arslan Drama Theater staged a play based on Who Are You, Effendi? by a Turkmen playwright, people’s writer of Turkmenistan, Nobatguly Rejepov. The characters of the situation comedy constantly find themselves in funny situations.

… Effendi bought a donkey to travel to town. However, Tersa Hodja, a crook, stole it from under Effendi’s nose, took its bridle and put it on his head.

- Where is my donkey? Effendi was quite agitated.

- You see, dear Effendi, I was a donkey until now. This is how I was punished for my gambling addiction. However, Allah had mercy on me and turned me back into a human. Take me into your service, and I swear you will not regret it.

Effendi and Tersa walked to the palace of Sanjak-beg. Effendi had the ability to win the companion’s trust and make him open up.

- Rumor has it, Sanjak-beg said, that the ruler of Gayi Kuvvat province is not satisfied with how simple men live under my protection. I would like to see with my own eyes, what it is like to live in my district, but I do not know how to do that.

- Nothing could be simpler, beg! Change into my clothes and go to the bazaar, and I will wear your clothes and replace you in the palace for a while...

The director, merited artist of Turkmenistan, Handurdy Berdiyev, staged a new, spectacular play, grotesque and metaphoric; a play that fills the audience with positivity.This is reinforced by original ideas of the art director, Mekan Annamyradov.

In designing a street of a medieval eastern town, Mekan thought of a landscape where the trees were painted in a different dimension, which generated the illusion of a volumetric space.

The same was done with an arba wheel.The modern style in stage design is highlighted with lighting effects.

Charming and inventive Hodja Nasreddin is portrayed by Charyyar Annamyradov; Effendi’s wife, Heyjan, full of life and ready to travel the world for her husband, is played by Gulshat Mengliyeva.

The premiere was a huge success, and the audience welcomed the new play with standing ovation and heartfelt emotions.

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