What is it about?
This article is an annotated chronology of events in Russian theatre and politics by an eyewitness and participant spanning the years of 2010 to 2015.
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Why is it important?
As Russian politics became increasingly repressive in the last years of Dmitry Medvedev's time in the Kremlin (2010-1012), and over the first few years after Vladimir Putin's return to power (2012-2015), Russian culture and the people who made it - especially the makers of theatre - responded in various ways, sometimes fighting back, sometimes buckling under the pressure. The overall picture of this period is one of a society struggling with the reality of a new authoritarian age.
Perspectives
As a front-row observer of, and participant in, the theatrical process in Russia for over a quarter century, I saw in the years of 2010 to 2015 an often alarming increase in attacks on art and artists, on freedom of expression, and on the rights that go with freedom of expression. This article, written in the style of an annotated chronology or diary, reflects the hardening of Russian cultural life in the first half of the second decade of the century.
John Freedman
Stanislavsky Electrotheatre
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: “Can One Enter a Theater Softly?”, Theater, January 2016, Duke University Press,
DOI: 10.1215/01610775-3322718.
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