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The Portrait Of Dorian Gray

ANNA KARENINA

This performance is conceived as a journey of the soul.

 

It explores the inner movement of the human being - the growth, the falling, the awareness, and the consequences of every choice we make. At its core, the performance questions what the soul learns through life: how it evolves, how it fails, and how both right and wrong decisions shape its destiny. Every action carries weight, not only in society but, most importantly, within the soul itself.

 

The story is told through Anna’s perspective, as a return to memory. The stage becomes a space of recollection, where fragments of her past arrive like train wagons - each one carrying a moment, a choice, a mistake. Through this continuous flow, Anna relives her life, searching for the point where her soul began to fall, where she lost awareness, and why she was unable to grow despite having the chance.

 

The train is a central visual and symbolic element - not only as a motif of fate, but as a mechanical force representing society. It is ever-present, moving, unstoppable. Within it, a chorus of masked figures embodies the social structure that surrounds and suffocates the individual. These figures gradually close the space around Anna, forming a living wall that restricts her movement and ultimately traps her. While Vronsky can pass through this structure, Anna cannot - revealing the imbalance of power, freedom, and consequence.

 

The scenographic and physical language is built on the principle of contraction. As the performance progresses, the space becomes smaller, tighter, more suffocating. Parallel to this, the physical relationship between Anna and Vronsky transforms - from attraction and closeness into tension, distance, and finally complete disconnection. Their love, initially driven by instinct and passion, reveals itself as unstable and unsustainable, lacking deeper connection and shared values.

 

In contrast, Levin stands as a counterpoint - a parallel journey of the soul. While Anna’s path leads toward fragmentation and collapse, Levin’s develops toward awareness, responsibility, and genuine love, which he finds with Kitty. Through this duality, the performance creates a clear contrast between destruction and growth, illusion and truth.

 

The visual world blends the organic and the mechanical: the living body, breath, rhythm, and instinct stand against rigid structures, repetition, and control. Elements such as movement, sound, and symbolic objects are used not as decoration, but as extensions of the characters’ inner states.

 

Ultimately, this is a performance about awareness - about the necessity to turn inward in a world that constantly pulls us outward. It reflects on a society that often forgets the soul, prioritizing appearance, status, and external validation, while neglecting inner truth.

 

“Anna Karenina” here becomes not only a story of love and tragedy, but a meditation on responsibility, consciousness, and the irreversible path of the human soul.

The Portrait Of Dorian Gray - Trailer - directed by Rizeski
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina
The Portrait Of Dorian Gray - Trailer - directed by Rizeski
Fight - The Portrait Of Dorian Gray

Theatre : White Roof Theatre Studio

 

Author : Leo Tolstoy

Executive Producer : Ziya Ağa

Director : Gjorgji Rizeski

Project Manager : Firudin İbrahimbəyli

Composer : Almir Bajramsky

Stage Designer : Vusal Rahim

Costumer : Gunay Azmemmedova

Ballet Master : Anar Mikayilov

Props : Hatire Husein Alyieva

Translation : Ziya Ağa

Proofreader : Vidadi Həsənov

Make Up Artist : Nura Babayeva

Light Designer  : Vadim Fikrət

Sound Designer : Ravan Hasanzade

Video : Fahir Samadoglu

Photography : Rufat Fatali

  

Anna : Oksana Rasulova 

Levin : Firdovsi Atakişiyev

Vronsky : Senan Kazimoff

Karenin : Ilqar Cahangir

Stiva : Tural Rza

Dolly : Aydan Aghazadeh

Kitty : Pervin Dadasheva

Princess Betsy : Sabina Asim

Seriozha : Nihat Esgerov

Countess Vronsky : Sabina Asim

Figure : Nicat Memmedov

Society 1 : Afgan Sultanov

Society 2 : Fagan Aliyev

Society 3 : Madina Agayeva

Society 4 : Sonel Seferova

Society 5 : Aysel Cabbarli

Society 6 : Ibrahim Cabiyev

Society 7 : Ismail Imamverdiyev

Society 8 : Karolina Alsanli

Society 9 : Mahabbet Ocaqverdiyeva

Society 10 : Sahib Ahmedov

Society 11 : Serxan Hesenaliyev

​

Film Crew : Fahir Semedoghlu . Efgan Elesov

Kamil Eliyev . Nijat Jebrayilov

Pr Manager : Gulnare Allahverdiyeva

Translator : Aysel Jabbarli

Stage Technologist : Isa Asadov

Stage Engineers : Zeynal Rahimov

Javad Hesenov . Yusif Kazimzade 

Decorators : Bakhtiyar Guliyev

Qasim Seferov . Hesenov Hesen

Bakhish Mirzelyev . Valeh Abdullayev 

Usubeli Eyyubov

Assistants of MUA : Zehra Gasimova 

Nermin Abdullayeva

​

2026

Theater Director - Rizeski ® 

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