The press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin did not receive a letter from the president of the Gorky Moscow Art Theater Tatyana Doronina to Vladimir Putin, but they know that such a letter appeared in the press.
“The letter was published, I don't know if it was published by her or by someone else.
We have so far recorded this as a media report, "Peskov explained.
He added that "the president cannot be sent letters through the newspapers, with all due respect to our great actress."
Dmitry Peskov also stressed that the Kremlin cannot intervene in this situation, and other institutions should deal with this topic.
“The Ministry of Culture is very well aware of the situation in the Moscow Art Theater, the Ministry of Culture is very well aware of the diametrically opposed opinions between Doronina and the leadership of the theater,” the press secretary said.
"A small part of the offensive outrages"
Earlier, the media circulated a letter from Tatyana Doronina addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the quotes, the artist asks to dismiss the current artistic director Eduard Boyakov.
“We urgently need to expel the hucksters from our Theater.
If the current unprofessional and mediocre artistic director remains at the Theater as a leader, there will be no memories of our Gorky Moscow Art Theater, ”says one of the fragments of the letter published by mk.ru.
Tatiana Doronina expresses concern about changes in the repertoire and rethinking of old performances, as well as the termination of cooperation with some actors.
“Today, talented artists who have been leading the repertoire have been expelled.
The repertoire itself is almost destroyed.
The scenery of the best and favorite performances by the audience was destroyed ... “Three Sisters”, which I restored from the notebooks of Nemirovich-Danchenko, were twisted by mediocre new performers, and the walls of the pavilions were repainted in a different color, ”argumenti.ru quotes Doronin.
Among the performances removed from the repertoire, the president of the theater mentions performances based on the works of Gorky, Ostrovsky and Polyakov.
In addition, the artist criticizes the organization of the site: the number of scenes increased from two to 12, the foyer, stairs and corridors are involved.
Part of the premises is rented to “whoever wants it and for what it wants”.
Also, the president of the Moscow Art Theater opposes the renewal of the troupe.
In her opinion, “the newcomers play outside of any school and are incompatible with the“ Gorky ”.
Doronina emphasizes that she described “only a small part of those offensive outrages, which for the third year now have been called for some reason“ Moscow Art Theater.
Gorky ".
“If you don't urgently appoint a new director, don't invite a talented artistic director who loves Russian literature and a truly realistic performance, according to Stanislavsky, everything will be swallowed up by a hooligan, perverted, vulgar entertainment circus show,” the artist concludes.
The play "The Wonderful Georgian" at the Moscow Art Theater.
Gorky
RIA News
© Ekaterina Chesnokova
Later, the press secretary of the Moscow Art Theater named after Gorky Victoria Musina-Pushkina posted a comment on Facebook about Doronina's letter to Putin.
Musina-Pushkina stressed that the representatives of the theater did not see the document itself.
In the quotes distributed by some publications, the Moscow Art Theater "did not recognize Tatyana Vasilyevna a little":
“We have not seen the letter of Tatyana Vasilievna Doronina and do not know whether it was sent to the President of the Russian Federation V.V.
Putin.
We can only assume that this letter was written in order to be disseminated by the media in the first place ”.
The press secretary also drew attention to the fact that Tatyana Doronina does not come to the Moscow Art Theater and could not appreciate the performances staged recently.
Doronina, according to Musina-Pushkina, does not fulfill her duties as president of the theater.
“It is strange for us to read such statements of Tatyana Vasilyevna about the theater, of which she is the president, in public space.
We do not know who and what tells the actress.
And we do not exclude that 87-year-old Tatyana Vasilievna is being manipulated by a circle of people who use the People's Artist in their very selfish interests, ”summed up Musina-Pushkina.
Creative differences
The conflict at the Moscow Art Theater has been going on for more than one year.
Eduard Boyakov was appointed artistic director of the theater on December 4, 2018.
For Tatyana Doronina, who held this post earlier, the post of president was opened.
In June 2019, artists and spectators made a demand to once again allow Tatyana Doronina to make decisions regarding the creative activity of the theater.
They recorded a video message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The president of the theater, Doronina, is deprived of all powers, including influence on the theater's repertoire and artistic policy.
The Moscow Art Theater is purposefully turning into a rental platform ... The classical repertoire of the Moscow Art Theater is being replaced by performances of a low artistic level, which leads to the destruction of the Russian national theater, ”they said.
The press service of the Ministry of Culture noted that Doronina heads the artistic council of the Moscow Art Theater, which is endowed with such powers.
Representatives of the department expressed the hope that the management and the troupe "will find a mutually acceptable solution."
Eduard Boyakov
RIA News
© Ekaterina Chesnokova
In November 2019, argumenti.ru published an open letter from actors and other cultural figures to Vladimir Putin.
The signatories demanded that Doronin be returned to the theater's artistic management.
They also criticized the "dismissal" of the artist "without any good reason."
The Moscow Art Theater noticed that Doronina was not removed from the leadership and she is temporarily not acting as president for health reasons.
The site staff responded to the open letter and asked Vladimir Putin to protect the theater from an "aggressive campaign of libel."
In addition, representatives of the theater said that at the meeting of the trade union, the majority supported the acting artistic director.
Soon after that, Tatyana Doronina personally talked with Vladimir Putin about the situation at the Moscow Art Theater.
According to RIA Novosti actor Andrei Chubchenko, who accompanied Doronin after being awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st degree, the artist asked the president to return the roles and salary increments to a number of artists.
Around this time, some of the actors went to court with a demand to declare illegal the transfer to fixed-term employment contracts and the deprivation of bonuses.
In addition, the plaintiffs requested compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
In February 2020, the court partially satisfied their claims.
According to TASS, the theater's representative Fyodor Kirillov said that the artists in fact “did not agree with the change in the creative concept of the Moscow Art Theater.
Gorky, with a new reading of those works that are staged in the theater. "
In December 2020, the Ministry of Culture announced the results of the audit of the theater's activities for 2018 - 2019, as well as for the period from January to June 2020.
During the event, “serious violations in the use of federal property, spending on wages, the use of a grant from the President of the Russian Federation, in the performance of a state assignment, in public procurement, in repair work” were revealed, - follows from a document posted on the agency's website.
In order to avoid repeated violations, on April 26, 2021, the ministry changed the charter of the Gorky Moscow Art Theater.
“As a result, both the director and the president will be the heads of the institution.
The artistic director of the theater is hired by the director in agreement with the Ministry of Culture of Russia, "the press service of the department told RT.