DUSHANBE, April 12, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- An international puppet theatre festival, dubbed Chodari Khayol, will be held in Dushanbe from April 17 to April 21, offering top entertainment for kids and adults, Ms. Nargis Roziqova, deputy director of the Dushanbe Puppet Theatre, Lukhtak, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to her, puppeteers from the Russian Federation (Khakasiya and Orienburg), Iran, Belarus, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have been invited to take part in the festival, which is organized by the Ministry of Culture with support from the Swiss Cooperation and the Tajik Branch of Open Society Institute/Assistance Foundation  (OSI/AF-Tajikistan).

“Our theatre will show The Thoughts on War and Peace , staged by Zafar Javodov,” Roziqova said, noting that they are currently making preparations for the summer international festival in Iran.

Besides, Lukhtak will also take part in the puppet theatre festival that will take place in Yekaterinburg, Russia in September.

The Chodari Khayol festival is being held in Tajikistan for the second time; the first one took place here in 2007 and six puppet theatres from foreign countries took part in that festival.

Established in 1985, the Dushanbe Puppet Theatre, Lukhtak, has staged more than 40 plays based on works by both Tajik and foreign authors so far.  A children’s studio has been established at the theatre and its students are taking part in some plays.  To-date, Lukhtak has made tours of Germany, Switzerland, Mongolia, the Czech Republic, Iran, France, Pakistan, Italy and some other countries.