July 09, 2022

A Theatrical Ousting


A Theatrical Ousting
The idea will continue to live on. Wikimedia Commons user Shuvaev

On June 30, Alexei Agranovich directed his final premier at the Gogol Center in Moscow. He and Alexei Kabeshev were set to have their contracts renewed in the first week of July, but the Moscow Department of Culture had other plans. While the reasoning behind the changeover has not been officially released, it's likely their ousting is due to their promotion of anti-war messages.

Prior to the start of the Ukraine War, the play "I Am Not Participating in the War" premiered. As the war was fully set into motion, actors have refused to bow after performances, and a dove of peace has also been displayed. Both are clear indications of the opinions of the cast and directors.

Kirill Serebrennikov, who headed the Gogol Center from 2012 until February 2021, addressed the audience of the Gogol theater via a virtual call, encouraging his viewers:

"The Gogol Center is an idea, an idea of ​​freedom. The idea of ​​freedom can only end with us. We are such people, very unpleasant for the authorities, very unpleasant for someone, but loved by each other and needed by each other."

The Gogol Center has been on Moscow's radar since it was established in 2012, not usually for its content, but for its avant-garde flavor and its heavy use of technology.

You Might Also Like

New Culture Wars?
  • July 01, 2017

New Culture Wars?

Early morning police raids and the conundrum that Kirill Serebrennikov and his Gogol Theater are facing.
A Failure to Perform
  • July 07, 2022

A Failure to Perform

The International Platonov Arts Festival in Voronezh, has been canceled due to current political conditions.
Golden Mask of Support
  • April 28, 2022

Golden Mask of Support

Ksenia Sorokina gives her Golden Mask award to jailed anti-war activist Sasha Skochilenko.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955