{"id":57356,"date":"2025-10-28T05:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T05:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/?p=57356"},"modified":"2026-01-14T23:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T23:39:44","slug":"askhat-maemirov-and-shynargul-kabysheva-it-s-important-not-to-forget-to-remain-human","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/askhat-maemirov-and-shynargul-kabysheva-it-s-important-not-to-forget-to-remain-human\/","title":{"rendered":"Askhat Maemirov and Shynargul Kabysheva: \u201cIt\u2019s important not to forget to remain human!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Photo from theatre’s archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You\u2019re bringing such a tragic, heavy parable-like story to London. Why this choice of play?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shynargul Kabysheva:<\/strong>
<\/strong>It was my idea. Askhat Maemirov has staged this play before. I had seen \u201cThe Black Cloak\u201d<\/em> several times, but it was after Askhat\u2019s production that I said: \u201cThis show should be performed in Europe.\u201d It\u2019s a story about animals \u2014 and we know how deeply Europeans care about the animal world \u2014 so it was clear that it would touch audiences\u2019 hearts. The theme is universal: there are no social or religious boundaries, no divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Askhat, why do you keep returning to this play, finding new layers in it every time?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Askhat Maemirov:<\/strong>
<\/strong>Giorgio Strehler, the famous Italian theatre reformer, wrote a book called \u201cTheatre for the People.\u201d<\/em> Theatre is, in essence, the study of humanity. Our production is about people \u2014 and for all people. As Shynargul rightly said, there are no ethnic or religious accents here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use elements of irrational and emotional theatre. The audience becomes a participant, a witness to the events \u2014 and that always makes one think. And now, more than ever, we need to think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, today there are productions that move or inspire, but very few that truly engage the mind. After our show, people will think for a long, long time \u2014 and that\u2019s a precious process. I\u2019m certain \u201cThe Black Cloak\u201d<\/em> will stay in the audience\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shynargul Kabysheva:<\/strong>
<\/strong>It\u2019s a difficult time now; so much is happening\u2026 Through social media we have access to all kinds of information, and we can see how much the world has hardened. Yet many people are still pleading, asking, demanding \u2014 goodness, peace, love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s exactly what our play is about: the importance of not forgetting to remain human, to do good, to love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are animals on stage, but do they feel the same as humans?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Askhat Maemirov:<\/strong>
<\/strong>Absolutely! There\u2019s a sort of stereotype: when someone is strong, wise, full of energy \u2014 we expect help from them. But when something happens and they fall on hard times \u2014 we forget them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our play, too, we talk about valuing such people, about not forgetting kindness. People\u2019s way of life needs to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shynargul Kabysheva:<\/strong>
<\/strong>Askhat first staged Khugaev\u2019s play about twenty years ago \u2014 this theme was born back then. It\u2019s a Shakespearean, timeless theme, one you can keep coming back to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that in the Soviet era we had many talented playwrights and powerful plays that the world still doesn\u2019t know well. The classics \u2014 Chekhov, Dostoevsky \u2014 are famous, but Khugaev, in my view, is a 20th-century classic. I hope our production will be a first encounter for London audiences with the drama of our region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is this the theatre\u2019s first tour in London?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shynargul Kabysheva:<\/strong>
<\/strong>Yes, it\u2019s our first time bringing the production here \u2014 and not as part of a festival, but as the first real tour of The Arts Stage<\/em> in the UK. Naturally, we\u2019re very nervous. The London audience is diverse, multicultural, multilingual \u2014 and we\u2019re performing not just for Kazakhs, but for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Photo from theatre’s archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

That\u2019s what makes it so exciting and intriguing! Such a mix of spectators \u2014 how will they respond to us? We\u2019re all human, despite our different nationalities and cultures\u2026 Yet everyone perceives things differently, depending on their mentality, psychology, upbringing, and birthplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Askhat Maemirov:<\/strong>
<\/strong>For Eastern peoples, the genre of the parable is sacred. Throughout history, wise storytellers used parables to explain important truths. These stories were passed from generation to generation: \u201cTake heed, humanity,\u201d they would say, \u201cif you don\u2019t listen to us, if you don\u2019t hear the voices of your ancestors, you\u2019ll repeat the tragedies of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, across the world, materialism has become the dominant cult. We know that past millennia were the age of the spiritual human; I believe the coming ones must become the era of the rational human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Productions like ours should help people remember and rediscover spiritual values. Among nomads \u2014 and we come from Kazakhstan, from the Great Steppe! \u2014 the highest ideals were honor, loyalty, and kindness. Material wealth was never the goal; spiritual richness mattered most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the play, the main character, the dog Tuzar, guards his master\u2019s cloak all winter in the mountains after the man forgets it there. But he guards not the garment \u2014 he guards the man\u2019s spirit, his soul. And in the end, the man says to him: \u201cYou were a good dog when you guarded the herds and fought the wolves. But now you\u2019re no longer the dog I need \u2014 so I\u2019ll kill you!\u201d And he does\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the wild creatures ask Tuzar: \u201cWho did you serve, Tuzar, that man?!\u201d And Tuzar replies: \u201cI served \u2014 humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main message of the parable is to love all humankind, to honor and protect integrity, spirit, and faithfulness. These are the values that will bring us closer to the era of the rational human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protagonist constantly faces a difficult choice \u2014 between love and duty. What should he choose?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Askhat Maemirov:<\/strong>
<\/strong>He chooses duty. For him, duty to people, to humanity, is paramount \u2014 because behind that choice lies responsibility. It\u2019s a civic stance. For me, it\u2019s vital that the audience not sit passively, but become witnesses, participants \u2014 to engage inwardly in a dialogue with the actors, to sometimes disagree, to protest, to see the play from multiple sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, with the rhythm of life transformed by artificial intelligence, digitalization, and virtual worlds, it\u2019s still crucial that humans can, figuratively speaking, touch<\/em> truth \u2014 see good and evil with their own eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Photo from theatre’s archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After performances, I sometimes ask the audience a question: inside every person there are two wolves \u2014 one evil, one good. Which one is stronger? In truth, the one you feed. If you nourish yourself with kind thoughts and creative deeds, the good wolf always wins. But if you feed hatred, envy, petty grievances \u2014 the evil wolf takes over. Then a person becomes helpless, passive, blaming everyone but themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sounds a bit like a childish attitude, doesn\u2019t it?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Askhat Maemirov:<\/strong>
<\/strong>Exactly \u2014 and that attitude doesn\u2019t satisfy me at all. That\u2019s why our hero fights. As I often say, by the finale he should remain in the audience\u2019s memory like a monument \u2014 like Hachiko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shynargul Kabysheva:<\/strong>
<\/strong>We all perceive the world differently, but sometimes our heart \u2014 our seventh sense, our intuition \u2014 tells us that things aren\u2019t as simple as they seem. Rationality and emotion are always in conflict: feelings say one thing, the mind another. And our play is a living being too \u2014 its goal is to maintain a living dialogue, to truly communicate with the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t want to reveal all the details now\u2026 Come and see the play, and you\u2019ll understand!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"