Mehriban Alakbarzada – “Code Name: VXA”
Age restriction: 18+
Author & Director: Mehriban Alakbarzada (Honored Art Worker)
Leading roles performed by: Honored Artists Shafag Aliyeva, Kamala Muzaffar, Leyli Valiyeva, Nasiba Eldarova, Gular Nabiyeva, and actors Zemfira Abdulsamadova, Gunel Mammadova, Sabina Mammadzade, Aygun Fatullayeva, Konul Abilova
Genre: Historical-documentary drama
Duration: One-act – 2 hours 50 minutes

With the production of “Code Name: VXA”, dedicated to Azerbaijani women who fell victim to the 1930s repressions, Honored Art Worker and Chief Director of the Young Spectators Theatre Mehriban Alakbarzada turns one of the darkest pages in our history.

The performance is dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the birth of Ahmad Javad, a prominent Azerbaijani literary figure, public activist, and educator, and focuses on the tragic fate of 26,000 women—represented through the story of Shukriya Akhundzade—who endured imprisonment and exile while preserving their dignity.

Based on historical facts, Alakbarzada paints a vivid picture of the horrors of the 1930s Soviet repression:

• Azerbaijani intellectuals and their wives are arrested and labeled as “enemies of the people.” Women are tortured in Bayil Prison, subjected to inhumane treatment. After prolonged investigations, unjust sentences are delivered—8, 10, or even 15 years in prison.

• Some women take comfort in the finality of sentencing, believing the ordeal is over. They look to the future with hope, dreaming of reunion with loved ones. But the real torment lies ahead—cold train wagons, starvation, harsh labor camps in Akmola, and brutal conditions.

• Some take their own lives, others survive preserving their honor. Among them is a child—one of the 1,502 left behind—searching for identity and truth.

Despite the despair, the play is not without hope. Time passes, and some women return home.
Through the voices of her characters, the author expresses the essence of the play:
“If any trace of us remains, if you still remember us… then we existed. We lived. They used our lives and our honor. We were at the bottom of life—below even that… Just remember us.”

This is a symbolic farewell to 37 women, but in truth, there were 26,000. These were the invisible heroines of history. History is made not only through loud wars but also in silent struggles. These women were part of that silent, yet resilient resistance, achieving not only physical but moral victory.

Alakbarzada calls on the audience not to forget our past. “Those who forget their yesterday have no future.”