STATE AUTONOMOUS CULTURAL INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN
Naberezhnye Chelny State Tatar Drama Theater named after Ayaz Gilyazov.
The birthday of the Tatar theater is considered December 22, 1906 – the day when the first public performance in the Tatar language was staged in Kazan. Exactly 84 years later, on December 21, 1990, the first Chelny professional troupe performed a play based on Rabit Batulla's "Kүbәlәk bulyp җanyң kaytyr" ("And your soul will return like a butterfly") directed by Fail Ibragimov on the stage of the Energetik Palace of Culture. This is the birthday of the Naberezhnye Chelny State Tatar Drama Theater.
In fairness, it should be noted that before that there was a folk theater in Naberezhnye Chelny, established back in 1918 in the Narodny Dom, and some actors of the folk theater at the Energetik Palace of Culture, founded in 1976, joined the newly created professional troupe.
Turning to official documents, the theater was originally called the "Tatar State Theater for Young Spectators." This is evidenced by Resolution No. 467 of the Council of Ministers of the Tatar ASSR, issued in December 1990, and Order No. 8 of the Ministry of Culture of the TASSR dated January 10, 1991. On February 24, 1995, by resolution of the Mayor of Naberezhnye Chelny No. 395/4, the theater was renamed the Naberezhnye Chelny Tatar Drama Theater and registered as a municipal institution. On September 1, 1999, Resolution No. 573 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan was issued, after which the theater was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The core of the troupe consists of true masters of the stage – highly professional, recognized by audiences as experts in their field. Among them: three People's Artists of the Republic of Tatarstan, six Honored Artists of the Republic of Tatarstan, one Honored Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan, two Honored Workers of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan. Alongside them, the younger generation of actors does tremendous work to popularize theatrical art. It is no coincidence that the troupe includes two laureates of the Republican M. Jalil Prize and two laureates of the Damir Siraziev Prize.
The theater troupe traditionally takes an active part in all citywide events – the national holiday "Sabantuy", the "Aquarelle" flower festival, "Kaz өmәse", "Navruz", Victory Day, International Women's Day, Defender of the Fatherland Day. The Tatar Drama Theater of Naberezhnye Chelny is a traditional participant of the Tinchurin Festival, the International Festival of Turkic Peoples "Nauruz" and others.
