OREANDA-NEWS. On 16 February 2009 Turkmenistan announced a contest of theater plays among state theaters. The contest regulations were published in Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper today, the Turkmenistan.ru correspondent reports from Ashgabat.

The regulations say theaters can participate in three nominations. These are "plays on the major successes and achievements in all spheres of public life in the epoch of great revival", "plays based on the works by famous Turkmen classics" and "plays based on the works describing the heroic life of national heroes who played an outstanding role in the five thousand year history of the Turkmen people."

Four winners will be announced in the first decade of December 2009. They will be awarded valuable gifts.

According to the regulations, theater plays "will be admitted to the contest after they are reviewed and authorized by the state commission under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan for the evaluation of the art level of film scripts, plays, novels, stories and poems." The contest jury for the evaluation of theater plays will be approved by the ministry of culture, TV and Radio broadcasting of Turkmenistan.