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Articles by John Freedman

opinion John Freedman

The Show Trial of a Russian Theater Director (Op-ed)

If it is not clear by now, let me say it in no uncertain terms: The Serebrennikov case is a show trial.

The Tragic Tale of a Comic Suicide

The premiere of Nikolai Erdman's tragicomedy "The Suicide" at the Yermolova Theater, a stone's throw from the Kremlin, means this classic Soviet-era...

Director Dmitry Krymov's Beautiful, Very Russian Blues

"Hunting for mushrooms is one of Russia's purest traditions, unlike fishing or hunting that involve alcohol or killing," Dmitry Krymov told me. "It's...

A Revitalized Russian Classic at Gogol Center

Kirill Serebrennikov has a way of developing themes in a big way. He crowned his opening season at the Gogol Center in 2013 with a powerful trilogy...

Moscow's Teatr.doc Explores Tangled Relations in '24 Plus'

Nothing less than the biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah suggests that when societies go into decline, the populace escapes into sex. What else...

Fasten Your Seat Belts for a Bumpy Moscow Theater Season

As we prepare for the new theater season, a note of alarm can be heard in the air.

26th Lyubimovka Festival Launches New Drama

It is called the Lyubimovka festival of young drama and, as everyone knows, youth is a state of mind.

The Russian Theater – What a Season It's Been

Another theater season bites the dust. And, therefore, wrap it up again we must. For three and twenty years without a break The Moscow Times has listed...

The Year in Theater: Murky Demons on the Loose

Words can be fashionable. They may be dangerous. The word of this year in Russian culture, I would argue, has shades of both.

Shakespeare's 'Dream' is Magic at Fomenko Theater

It is no secret that following the death of founder Pyotr Fomenko in 2012, the Fomenko Workshop Theater drifted a bit.

Raikin Touches Audiences in 'All Shades of Blue'

Konstantin Raikin knows full well he is sticking his neck out with his production of "All Shades of Blue" at the Satirikon Theater.

Bulgakov's 'Flight' Soars at Vakhtangov Theater

We have come to expect "big" from Yury Butusov. We know he takes bold approaches to text, applying cuts, rearrangements and duplications to the works...

Ksenia Sobchak Shines as Gogol's Matchmaker

It is the kind of gimmick that could easily have sunk the ship. In fact, it's probably what keeps it afloat.

Teatr.doc Lives Through Latest Betrayal

It is the unavoidable topic if you mention Teatr.doc for any reason — the war that city authorities are waging against this tiny, popular Moscow theater...

Yukhananov's 'Serial Opera' Narrates Civilization Myth

When Moscow last saw this show a few years ago it was relatively small, at least in temporal terms. But Boris Yukhananov doesn't know or do "small."...

Serebrennikov's New Take on 'A Common Story'

Ivan Goncharov is not the writer who jumps to mind when you think hip, universal, classic 19th-century Russian prose.

Teatr.doc Booted From Home After Bolotnaya Play

The news should be that on Tuesday Teatr.doc, Moscow's smallest but noisiest playhouse, begins guest performances in Berlin with "Two in Your House"...

Head Down to Voronezh for Innovative Theater

If you thought St. Petersburg was the only place to head for a long weekend, let me say just one word: Voronezh.

Prigov's Works Put The 'Revolt' Into Revolution

There are many reasons to be intrigued by "Revolt" at Praktika Theater. It is the latest production to involve the Dmitry Brusnikin Workshop, a group...

Authorities Again Threatened by Bolotnaya Square

Yelena Gremina's production of "The Bolotnaya Square Case" at Teatr.doc may be the most benign dangerous 65 minutes I have ever witnessed.

Chekhov Festival Brings the World of Theater to Moscow

Approximately once every two summers, ever since its inaugural outing in the shaky, post-Perestroika year of 1992, the International Chekhov Theater...

'Griboyedov-Blues' a Feisty Take on Woe From Wit

Russian culture — by which I mean the world of the arts — is locked in a battle, the likes of which have not been seen here for decades.

The Ups and Downs of the Golden Mask Awards at 21

The Golden Mask Festival has come and gone for the 21st time. It is now an adult by anyone's standards.

Russian Culture Minister Medinsky Heckled at Golden Mask Awards

It took one single spectator at the 21st running of the Golden Mask Festival awards ceremony on Saturday to say aloud what was on the minds of many...

Yukhananov Looks Back and Forward in Passionate 'Blue Bird'

Maurice Maeterlinck's "The Blue Bird" is one of the most iconic plays in Russian theater lore. It was first staged in 1908 by Konstantin Stanislavsky...

Kozlovsky Lifts Dodin's Superb 'Cherry Orchard'

We could hardly call it the Golden Mask Festival were a production by Lev Dodin and his Maly Drama Theater of St. Petersburg not participating.
opinion John Freedman

Soviet-Style Censorship Returns to Russian Arts


How many bulls does it take to trash a china shop?

Deeply Human Touch Brought to Erdman's 'The Suicide'


I have written about Nikolai Erdman's tragicomedy "The Suicide" for 35 years and I have rarely seen it done with the deep, devastating understanding...

Golden Mask Festival Comes to Moscow Again

The 21st running of the Golden Mask Festival is as big and sprawling and time-consuming as it has ever been. The days of the Golden Mask as a localized...

12 Things to See on Moscow's Theater Night

For the third year in a row on March 26, the eve of World Theater Day, most of Moscow's theaters — a total of over 70 — will throw open their...

Nilo Cruz Comes to See His Tolstoy-Inspired Play

"I usually don't write about books," Nilo Cruz told a group of people gathered to hear a discussion about his play "Anna in the Tropics," which includes...

'Sforza' Mix of Politics and Love Fails to Convince

"Sforza," Sasha Denisova's new play at the Meyerhold Center, suffers from a case of schizophrenia. That becomes especially evident as it reaches its...

Zombie Chekhov Play Leaves Audience Bemused

The vast majority of folks sitting around me stared on in frozen horror. As if the rigor mortis infecting everyone on stage might be contagious.

Wordless Version of 'Inspector General' a Must-See

Put away all that nonsense about, "I love theater but I don't go in Moscow because I don't know Russian."

Liquid Theater Tells of Old Age Through Dance

Allow me to break all the rules of the critic's job by giving away the end of Liquid Theater's "Program: Time" right now. It's such an ideal ending...

Embattled Teatr.doc Proudly Returns to the Stage

"I always thought this democracy stuff was, you know … ," Alexei Yudnikov said, his voice trailing off with disgust still ringing in it. "Yes, yes!...

Mirzoyev Stages Dark, Mournful 'Cherry Orchard'

Vladimir Mirzoyev's handling of Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" at the Pushkin Theater has the ring of a moaning siren alerting folks on a forbidding...

Theater of Nations Takes on Russian Romance

The romance — or romantic ballad, if you will — is one of the cornerstones of Russian culture. Imagine Russian cinema or classical drama without...

Stanislavsky Electrotheater Opens With 'Bacchae'

Moscow this week lost one of its most prominent theaters, founded originally in 1935 by Konstantin Stanislavsky, the co-founder of the famed Moscow...

Using Cabaret to Take Satirical, Sly Look at WWI

Cabarets and war are more similar than you might think. One raises serious issues by way of mirth, the other is just deadly serious.

Lyubimovka Drama 'Emptiness' on at Meyerhold

Who are we? And why are we what we are? These are questions people ask not only after Russia's marathon New Year and Christmas holidays, a time when...

Teatr.doc Gets New Plays Ready While Pushed Out of Home Theater

Goodbye, Teatr.doc. Hello, Teatr.doc. Both statements are true. Which one suits your purposes at any given moment depends on what you are talking about...

Korolyov's 'Formalin' Puts Literature Back on Stage

A little over 13 years ago an often violent and seemingly coarse play called "Plasticine" — written by Vasily Sigarev — burst onto the scene and gave...

The Satirikon Reworks 'The Taming of the Shrew'

There is good reason to flaunt the capabilities of the company at the Satirikon Theater, one of the most powerful, agile, accomplished groups of actors...

National Youth Theater Takes on 'Nuremberg'

More than any large, established theater in Moscow, the National Youth Theater has accepted the challenge in recent years of taking stock of history...

Director Kama Ginkas Takes On Albee Classic

Chances are if you know the art of Kama Ginkas you would not automatically think about Edward Albee. Just as you might be excused for not thinking about...

Mukhina Returns to Fomenko With 'Olympia'

As much as one might have wished, Olga Mukhina's long-awaited return to the Fomenko Studio with her new play "Olympia" is not quite the stuff of fairy...

Take a Vacation to Crimea at Embattled Teatr.doc

To be or not to be, that is the question these days for Teatr.doc.

Bogomolov Revamps Pushkin's 'Boris Godunov'

In "Boris Godunov" at the Lenkom Theater, director Konstantin Bogomolov somehow found a way to do what probably should have been impossible. He combined...

Yukhananov Transforms Stanislavsky for 2015

Mark your calendar: Jan. 26, 2015. Something big is brewing. On that date the theater we have long called the Stanislavsky Drama Theater, just up Tverskaya...

Visceral Show of Babel's 'Red Cavalry' Hits Home

Isaac Babel is one of the most enigmatic writers not only of the early Soviet era, but in all of Russian literature. He wrote plenty to be included...

Uproar as City Threatens to Shut Down Teatr.doc

Yelena Gremina, having just informed the world that her mighty little Teatr.doc was in danger of being evicted from its famous basement in the center...

Serebrennikov's 'Martyr' Sends Powerful Message

It sounds more like a play that would suit the United States these days, with its story of radical, fundamentalist Christianity pulling a school apart...

Memories of Lyubimov and Meyerhold at Theater Director's Funeral

Yury Lyubimov once told me about meeting the great director Vsevolod Meyerhold. This happened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1987. I paid Lyubimov...

Taking a Theatrical Tour of Old and New Sretenka

It's a wonderful idea for reopening a renovated old building, to work out some of the demons and explore some of the angels still lingering in the...

Legendary Russian Theater Director Yury Lyubimov Dies at 97

Yury Lyubimov, who died late Sunday morning at the age of 97, was a man of and for his times.

Gogol Center Puts Vintage Soviet Films on Stage

The Gogol Center has done a fascinating thing over the last two seasons. It delved into some of Russia's shared cultural codes and came up with new...

Solzhenitsyn Spat Sees Mironov Attack Putin Ally

A Literaturnaya Gazeta critic's attack on Alexander Solzhenitsyn causes a war of words as Solzhenitsyn's widow comes to his defense.

Coupling, Uncoupling Told With Grace and Flair

Love as death, death as love. No, Timofei Kulyabin's production of "#shakespearessonnets" at the Theater of Nations is not a satire. Although some...

From a Park Reader to Chervikus Knigus and Putin


I swear it's not my fault. I just went for a walk and happened to see a nice image come into my camera's viewfinder. I took the picture of a woman...

Topsy-Turvy World in Krymov's Take on Ostrovsky

A rough play for rough times. Dmitry Krymov staged Alexander Ostrovsky's old "Late Love" at the School of Dramatic Art and turned it into a bitter...

New Theater Season Focuses on Old, Not New

Well, there's one good thing. A check of shows opening in the first weeks of the coming theater season reveals not a single old Anton Chekhov play...

Lyubimovka Marks Real Start of Theater Season

It's not quite true that the Lyubimovka play festival is the first real event of each theater season in Moscow. This year, for example, some 10 top...

The Winners of the 22nd Moscow Times Theater Awards

What a year. Drama. Histrionics. Villainy. Hubris. Intrigue. Tragedy. And I haven't even begun considering the 2013-2014 theater season.

New Era Looms After Golden Age of 'New Drama'

It has been an astonishing run. But doesn't every run come to an end?

Art World Expats Mull Russia's Future as Tensions Rise

Foreigners working in the cultural community speak to Moscow Times theater critic John Freedman about life in the city today.

Director Volkostrelov Brings 'Slice of Life' to Stage

It struck me as a sign from above. I was waiting for Dmitry Volkostrelov in a Moscow coffee shop and a television was showing a story about the Spanish...

The Nightmare of Being a Russian-Language Ukrainian Playwright

"I don't know what to do about it, John. It is a nightmare and it is hell. And something in me has been broken irreparably."

Raikin Puts Post-Soviet Spin on Wesker’s Kitchen

Arnold Wesker’s “The Kitchen,” written in 1957, is something of a poetic cry of the soul. It fairly seems to scream, “Why can’t people get along...

Russian Blog Post Decrying Government's Internet Crackdown Goes Viral

Imagine a world in which law enforcement agencies have direct access to the data you store in social media, you are subject to arrest and prison...

Old-Fashioned Feel to Revival of 'Game Over'


“Plus ca change,” the French say, “plus c’est la meme chose.” The more things change, the more they stay the same.

It’s a great phrase...

Cultural Battle Goes on, Gogol Center Under Attack


As a law took effect last week banning obscenities in works of art, and as Russian parliamentarian Yelena Mizulina — the author of the so-called...

'Elder Sister' Shows Soviet Writer Volodin's Subtlety

It's not enough for a revival, we'd need a third for that. But we had two major productions of plays by the highly respected Soviet playwright Alexander...

Moscow's Culture Codes

If you have walked anywhere in Moscow you have seen them, the blue squares with the qr codes in the middle and the white writing on them. If you...

Durnenkov Succeeds With Sensitive, Probing 'Victory Day'

It has been quite a season for Mikhail Durnenkov. It began in September when the playwright took over the running of the Lyubimovka festival and breathed...

Few Russian Artists Bother to Fight Creeping Trend of Censorship

As we approach July 1, the day after which obscenities will officially be banned in Russian art, the Russian creative community is doing what it can...

Ingeborga Dapkunaite Stars in Pulinovich's Latest Play 'Zhanna'

Yaroslava Pulinovich has been a leading Russian playwright for half a decade yet her 27th birthday arrives only next month.

Moscow's Muzeon Arts Park

There's going to be rain this week, but for the most part it should be what Russian calls "little" rain. Just enough occasional drops to keep that lovely...

Volkostrelov Resurrects Soviet '60s

In "1968. Novy Mir" at the Taganka Theater, Dmitry Volkostrelov shrewdly found a way to combine aesthetics, artistic methods and themes that are capable...

Russian Theater Bids Fond Farewell to the F-word

Russia’s newest law employing repressive action to regulate behavior and culture will take effect July 1. The law, signed by President Vladimir Putin...

'Fields Enter the Door' Shows off Rebuilt Playwright Center

It has been a long season for Moscow's two newest artistic directors. A year ago the Moscow Culture Committee made the astonishing announcement that...

In Search of Forgotten Artist Vladimir Izenberg

The name Vladimir Izenberg does not say a lot in and of itself. It's not one that calls up images or eras, great schools or great events.

Russian Theater Director Lev Erenburg Goes All Out in 'Without a Dowry'

It is a paradox that director Lev Erenburg rather quietly moved into the first rank of Russia's theater directors. His bold, dynamic shows are anything...

Kultura Newspaper Condemns Contemporary Theater Again

I forced myself to read the entire article. It was not easy to do. But it had to be done.

Bogomolov Shows Why He's Moscow's Most Popular Director

Konstantin Bogomolov has grabbed the position of Moscow's most popular director in recent years with a stream of controversial, flamboyant productions...

Medinsky the Media Magnet

Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky received an honorary fellowship on Thursday a few days late and not quite as planned.

Pirandello's 'Mountain Giants' Lacks Human Warmth

Luigi Pirandello is not a frequent visitor on Russian stages these days. You can see why in a production of his last, unfinished play, "The Mountain...

Dodin's Larger-Than-Life Plays Grab 2 Golden Mask Awards

Lev Dodin's two productions playing at the Golden Mask Festival this year grabbed two awards out of 10 nominations. The director's rendition of Friedrich...

Brush Up Your Shakespeare to Understand Today's Russia

"Hamlet." Has there ever been a better play to fall back on when you need to have a chat about Russia?

Hidden Culture in Tomsk

In my long love affair with Russian art and culture, the city of Tomsk plays a special role. The main reason for that is the research I have done...

Maksym Kurochkin Innovates Against the Odds

Halfway through "Circuit Breaker" at Teatr.doc, I had a mini-revelation. Maksym Kurochkin may be the most fortunate playwright of his generation.

Plenty of Surprises at Golden Mask Awards

The Golden Mask Festival awards ceremony, which unfolded over a leisurely three hours on Friday at the Bolshoi Theater, had plenty of surprises.

Did Putin Declare a Mini Thaw in Culture?

Did this actually happen or am I imagining it? It's no big event or turning point, that is for sure. But it did feel for a moment last week that the temperature...

Russia's New Culture War

I've seen this before. Not in my lifetime, no. I saw it unfold before my astonished eyes in crumbling, yellowing newspaper clippings from the late 1920s...

Volkostrelov's Innovative Golden Mask Production

The Golden Mask Festival is a boon for us sit-at-homes. You can't travel to Kazan or Ryazan to see the latest work from those cities? The Golden...

Russia's New Culture War

I've seen this before. Not in my lifetime, no. I saw it unfold before my astonished eyes in crumbling, yellowing newspaper clippings from the late 1920s...

Culture Ministry Purges Prominent Arts Figures

The Russian Culture Ministry raised eyebrows this week by replacing several respected figures in two departments involving the fine arts and theater...

Doctor Osipov, Writer Maxim

This may not end up being my best column, but it will be one of my personal favorites. It has no real plot and very little dramatic line. It does, however...

Moscow's Ten Theater Puts Shakespeare on the Menu

It sounds like one of the worst cliches you can imagine: "one of a kind," meaning the only one like it. Anywhere. Anytime. Yeah, right.

Can Art Save Russia's Face?

What follows is similar to a column (they were called blogs back then) that I wrote just before the beginning of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.