1851-1900
Babo Avalishvili was the first woman who performed tragic and dramatic roles in the renewed Georgian theatre in Tbilisi (1879). She played Martha (in Giorgi Eristavi’s Kvarkvare Atabeg), Ketevan (Davit Eristavi’s Homeland), Marine (Valerian Gunia’s Sister and Brother), Marguerite (The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas, fils), Ophelia (William Shakespeare’s Hamlet), Amalia (Friedrich von Schiller’s The Robbers), others.
Babo Avalishvili was engaged in charity activity and was a member of supervisory committee of the Association of Georgian Women.
“As the desire for a Georgian theatre aroused among society, we saw the performance of Countess Barbare Kherkheulidze on the stage in 1868 and 1869… To further incite the sympathy towards the Georgian theatre among society, after performances Barbare Kherkheulidze herself organized entertainment events in the evenings from the proceeds of the theatre. She thus wanted to bring the Georgian society and families close to each other and to incite more sympathy towards theatre among them.”
G. Tsereteli, the newspaper Kvali. Issues #51,
12 December, 1893.
“
First, males played the female roles…. Some time later, Georgian actresses emerged owing to efforts of Countess Nino Orbeliani. Then, this endeavor reached noble families and gained assistance and sympathy from them. Rehearsals were conducted in these families and they advocated for women’s performance on the stage…. The first ever woman who dared to step onto the stage was countess Babo Kherkheulidze (now countess Avalishvili); she was then followed by Elene Kipiani, Ms. Antonovskaya, Marian Kipiani, Barbare Korinteli, Ms. Vachnadze, Elisabed Kazbegi, Ms. Varlamova, Ms. Dakishevich and finally, by Mariam Saparova, Natalia Gabunia and others.”
The newspaper Iveria. Issues #7. 11 January, 1900.