L.O.V.E.

Caucasus Tour June 2003

The 1992 hit show L.O.V.E. was revived in June 2003 to tour to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia under the auspices of the British Council.

The first show was performed at the Marjanishvili Theatre in Tbilisi, Georgia, on June 12. Although the venue had been fully informed about the content, the show outraged officials of the Georgian Orthodox Church, who made a radio announcement discouraging people, especially young people, from attending the performances.

Astonishingly, and despite the fact that many people appeared to be enjoying the performance, the Artistic Director of the Marjanishvili, Otar Meghvinet-Ukhutsesi (who had already seen the show in rehearsal), led a walkout during the first performance. It now appears that the Marjanishvili theatre caved in under religious pressure and pretended that they didn't know the content of the show: "Marjanishili there is a traditional theatre and we want to retain this tradition here - go and perform somewhere else." The Marjanishvili refused to let the company perform the remaining shows, and despite attempts by the British Council and offers from another theatre to provide an alternative venue, the remaining performances in Georgia were cancelled for safety reasons amid church protests and threats to sabotage the performances.

There were numerous talk shows on Georgian TV and radio channels regarding the Volcano tour and those artists who supported the show were receiving threatening anonymous calls after TV appearances.

The show went on to be extremely well received in Azerbaijan and Armenia.

You can read more about this extraordinary tour in an article by Peter Aspden for the Financial Times.

"You are beautiful! We like your perfomance very much! Dont worry about to break off your tour in Georgia. We wait to for your new tour in Georgia!" Audience member in Tbilisi