Enter the world of the Yakut epic Olonkho, where heroines fight alongside warriors. Faces of Olonkho is a journey into a universe where everything breathes magic – from the whispers of the world tree to the vibrations of the ancient Khomus, the jaw harp. The peaceful Middle World of the Aiyy people, is shattered by the invasion from the Lower World. The beautiful Syralyma Kuo has been abducted. In response, the supreme god Yuryung Aar Toyon sends the legendary female warriors, Djyrybyna Djyrylyatta and Kyys Debiliye. They face sacred rituals, battle the monstrous shaman Obot Khobochoy, and the shapeshifter Dygyydaan Bogo. Meanwhile, the warrior Kyys Nyurgun awakens, destined for a fateful duel with the hero Nyurgun Bootur. This is a tale of spiritual strength and feminine courage. The audience will be immersed in the resonant art of throat singing (toyuk), the mystical sounds of the Khomus, the dynamism of epic battles, and the overwhelming joy of a life-affirming celebration.

Playwright

The Yakut heroic epic Olonkho is both a collection of folk tales and an oral tradition passed down through generations. It has no single author; its creator is the entire community of olonkhosuts (storytellers), past, present, and future, who collectively shape the narrative.

Director:

Mariia M. Markova, is a theatre artist, scholar, and a teacher. She graduated as a Puppet Theatre Artist from the Sverdlovsk State Theatre Institute (1990). She further completed a specialist assistantship in Plastic Education at The Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School, State Academic Maly Theatre of Russia, qualifying as a Higher Theatre School Teacher (2005). She served as an actress at the Neryungri Republican Theatre (1990-1995) and taught Stage Plasticity for nearly twenty years at the Yakut College of Culture and Arts. Since 2005, she has led plastic education at ASICA. Her work as Director of Plastic Arts for the stage production of Djyrybyna: The Warrior Woman was integral to the production’s success and had performed in international festivals.

Director’s Note

Faces of Olonkho is a theatrical interpretation of the Yakut epic, engaging the audience in a dialogue through the language of modern theatre. It synthesizes narrative, music, and mythology into a new, polyphonic whole. The production applies the principles of Bertolt Brecht’s epic theatre, i.e. the “alienation effect.” The action unfolds in an intentionally “empty space,” focusing attention on the actor, the spoken word, and the audience’s imagination. The physical world on stage is minimal and symbolic, constructed from gymnastic sticks, salama (a ritual rope), and stylized costumes. The actors act as demiurge-narrators, addressing the audience directly offering ironic commentary on the plot. The soundscape is built from the shamanic drum, the khomus (jaw harp), and imitations of animal voices. The carnivalesque “voice” of Olonkho is also essential – a space where the sacred and profane coexist, even incorporating playful references to modern pop culture.

Group:

Faces of Olonkho features fourth-year students of the “Acting Art” program from the Department of Theatre Arts at the Arctic State Institute of Culture and Arts (ASICA). The group’s artistic director is Andrey Borisov, Head of the Department, and founder of the Olonkho Theatre. Its principal expressive medium is the authentic throat-singing style ‘toyuk.’ Students from this group had performed this play at the International Student Theatre Festival “Your Chance / GITIS fest” in Moscow and at the International Theatre Festival “The Whole World is a Theatre” in Ufa.