JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Putin’s war destroyed a golden age of Russian culture” – Financial Times

“Inside the pain, purges and persecution that have decimated the country’s once-flourishing theatre scene”

“… Hours after Russia’s invasion … [Moscow’s experimental] Meyerhold Centre … became the first theatre to protest. … [A]ctors, directors, ballet dancers and conductors followed suit. … [A]bout 2,000 Russian cultural workers … signed an open letter … opposing the war. Some went into the streets to protest, including young playwright and festival director Yury Shekhvatov, who was detained by riot police, beaten and spent 15 days in jail. A handful of theatres added peace doves to … logos. Russia’s top Shakespeare scholars issued a joint statement. … The sense of collective resistance did not last long. … [Government] warnings are significant in Russia, since most theatres are formally government institutions. The culture ministry has final say on budgets and hiring and firing staff, a hangover from the Soviet Union. …”

Click here for: “How Putin’s war destroyed a golden age of Russian culture” – Financial Times; Inside the pain, purges and persecution that have decimated the country’s once-flourishing theatre scene” – Financial Times/ Polina Ivanova