Rezo Gabriadze Marionette Theatre and Clock Tower

On a small square in the Old Town of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia (the country in the South Caucasus), a few steps from the Anchiskhati Basilica, stands one of the most quietly extraordinary things in the city — a leaning brick tower built from mismatched materials, encrusted with ceramic fragments and small sculptures, topped by a miniature angel that emerges on the hour to strike a bell. The tower belongs to the Rezo Gabriadze Marionette Theatre, and both tower and theatre are the work of Rezo Gabriadze himself — playwright, screenwriter, sculptor, painter, and one of the most genuinely original artistic minds Georgia has produced in the modern era.

What is the Rezo Gabriadze Marionette Theatre and Clock Tower?

The Rezo Gabriadze Marionette Theatre is a small, internationally renowned puppet theatre in Tbilisi's Old Town, founded in 1981 by the Georgian artist Rezo Gabriadze (1936–2021). Beside it stands its leaning Clock Tower, built by Gabriadze in 2010 from salvaged old-Tbilisi bricks and hand-painted tiles, deliberately crooked and topped by an angel that strikes a bell on the hour. Twice a day, at noon and 19:00, a short mechanical puppet show called The Circle of Life plays from the tower. The theatre itself stages Gabriadze's marionette plays — among them The Autumn of My Springtime, The Battle of Stalingrad, and Ramona — in an intimate space of about 80 seats. The tower is free to see at any time; performances need tickets and sell out, so book ahead.

The clock and the tower

Gabriadze built the clock tower in 2010, as an addition to the theatre that had been his artistic home since 1981, and the structure is entirely characteristic of his sensibility — playful without being frivolous, handmade in a way that feels deliberate rather than rough, and carrying the quality that runs through all his work: at once funny and melancholy, childlike and profound. The tower leans slightly, its brickwork irregular, its surfaces studded with ceramic details and small found objects that reward close looking; it was built largely from bricks and tiles salvaged from demolished old Tbilisi houses, which gives it its patchwork, storybook feel. It looks as though it has always been there and was built by someone making it up as they went — which is more or less exactly what happened. (Look for the Latin motto on the theatre facade: Extra cepam nihil cogito nos lacrimare — roughly, "May onions be the only reason we cry.")

The mechanical show at the top runs on the hour through the day: a small angel emerges from a door and strikes the bell — a brief moment that draws a little crowd at every hour and is over almost before it begins. Twice daily, at noon and 19:00, a longer animated performance, The Circle of Life, takes place: figures emerge from the tower's facade in a wordless few minutes tracing birth, life, and death. Even by the jaded standards of people who've seen a great many tourist attractions, it's genuinely moving — the kind of thing that produces an unexpectedly strong reaction in adults who arrived expecting a mildly diverting mechanical clock.

The theatre and performances

The theatre stages full marionette productions in the intimate space beside the tower — only about 80 seats, which is part of why it feels the way it does (and why it sells out). Gabriadze's plays — among them The Autumn of My Springtime, The Battle of Stalingrad, and Ramona — are works of real theatrical sophistication that have toured across Europe and beyond, appearing at major festivals (Lincoln Center, Edinburgh, Avignon, the Kennedy Center, the Barbican, and others) and winning serious critical attention well beyond the world of puppet theatre. The productions are in Georgian, but the visual storytelling, the extraordinary craftsmanship of the marionettes, and the emotional intelligence of the writing make them accessible and affecting for non-Georgian speakers in a way spoken drama rarely manages across a language barrier. Attending a performance is one of the more memorable cultural experiences in Tbilisi — book ahead, because the theatre is small and productions sell out.

Rezo Gabriadze

Gabriadze was born in Kutaisi in 1936 and first built his reputation as a screenwriter, working on more than 35 films, including some of the most celebrated of the Soviet era — among them Mimino and Kin-dza-dza!, both still beloved across the former Soviet world. In 1981 he founded the marionette theatre in Tbilisi and spent the following decades building it into an institution with an international reputation that sits well apart from the standard categories of Georgian cultural tourism (his honors include France's Order of Arts and Letters). His visual art — paintings, drawings, small sculptures — has been exhibited widely, and the theatre building itself, with its decorated facades and the clock tower as its centerpiece, is as much a work of art as anything shown inside.

Gabriadze died in 2021, but the theatre he founded continues to operate, and his productions remain in the repertoire; his son, Levan Gabriadze, is himself an actor and film director. The tower and the theatre stand as Gabriadze's most public and most permanent work — a gift to the city that, in the years since the tower went up, has become as much a part of Old Tbilisi's identity as the sulfur baths or the Narikala walls.

The surroundings

The theatre sits in one of the most walkable and characterful parts of the Old Town, among the narrow lanes, traditional houses, and small churches that define the historic core. The Anchiskhati Basilica — the oldest surviving church in Tbilisi — is immediately adjacent. The Bridge of Peace and the Mtkvari riverfront are a short walk south. The streets between here and Abanotubani hold some of the most intact traditional architecture left in the Old Town, and pairing the tower with a wander through this part of the city makes a natural hour or two of Old Tbilisi exploration.

Visiting

• Location: 13 Shavteli Street, Old Tbilisi (a few steps from the Anchiskhati Basilica).
• Clock tower: Free and publicly accessible at any time. The angel strikes the bell on the hour; the longer Circle of Life show plays daily at 12:00 and 19:00.
• Theatre performances: Ticketed; book through the box office or website (gabriadze.com). The theatre is small (~80 seats) and shows sell out — book ahead. Productions are in Georgian.
• Website: gabriadze.com
• Tips: Time a casual visit for noon or 19:00 to catch The Circle of Life; there's a café by the theatre. Even without a performance ticket, the tower and the surrounding lanes are worth the stop.
• Combine with: The Anchiskhati Basilica (next door), Shavteli and the Old Town lanes, the Bridge of Peace and Rike Park, and Abanotubani — a natural Old Town walking cluster.