Domogarov was released from his role at the Mossovet Theater

Can the conflict between a famous artist and the theater management be considered settled?

An interesting document was published by the management of the Mossovet Theater. If you believe the order signed by artistic director Evgeniy Marcelli and director Alexei Cherepnev, the artist Domogarov is released from the role of Tartuffe in the future play “Tartuffe or the Deceiver”… According to his request. In general, Domogarov himself asked for this, and the management, with whom the artist already has a difficult relationship (to put it mildly), seemed to agree. But is everything so peaceful and amicable now in one of the central theaters of Moscow, which is already rocked by scandals and haunted by creative failures, the MK observer found out.

This order was preceded by a whole story and was very indicative of the internal work of the theater over the past two years. The first artist of the Mossovet troupe is called back on September 29 at 12:00 for a rehearsal of a new play, where he is to play the title role – Tartuffe, in line with another artist – Vitaly Kishchenko. And here, for understanding further events, there is a very important detail – the rehearsal of “Tartuffe” is scheduled for the day of the premiere of another performance with the participation of Domogarov – “Masquerade”, but in a different theater – the Soviet Army. “Masquerade,” naturally, is given there in the evening, but director Chusova does the run-through earlier, and Domogarov stipulates a rehearsal time at the Mossovet from 12 to 13:00; Moreover, there is a second performer in the role of Tartuffe. It seems that all decency was observed, but that was not the case.

From the rehearsal, the artist was brought into the management and handed him a paper in which they demanded an explanation – why was Domogarov absent from the theater and the country on September 13? This Requirement to provide written explanations (as it is officially written on the document) has a wonderful wording. Domogarov is required to report on the following circumstances of “temporary stay in September 2023 in a country included in the list of foreign states and territories committing unfriendly actions against the Russian Federation, Russian legal entities and individuals… and participation in the Russian-Cypriot Film Festival on September 13, 2023 without written approval from the head of the repertoire department, artistic director and director of the theater…”

As eyewitnesses of that scene, which was very humiliating for the artist, told me, the latter became boiling and promised to involve lawyers. And it was not without reason that he boiled over – the order on the distribution of roles in Tartuffe was issued on September 15. And Domogarov was in Cyprus two days earlier and at the official invitation of the head of the Russian Center for Science and Culture, Advisor to the Russian Embassy in the Republic of Cyprus A. Radchenko. And at the rehearsal on September 29, Domogarov showed up, having agreed on a time in advance, but nevertheless he was forced to explain his dubious past.

Apparently, the theater management thus decided to settle scores with its first artist for the previous conflict situation related to the play “Richard III”. , which only the lazy didn’t write about a year ago. And they couldn’t find a better time than to initiate a new mess right before a new job.

The question arises – why? Everyone knows that the first actors in any troupe, whom the public attends and largely thanks to whom the theater makes money at the box office, are always in demand. Their characters are also not sweet. But since the management is forced to rely on them, it means that it must be able to build relationships with them, look for compromises, and not expose itself as incompetent strategists and tacticians. To cure the problems of the repertory theater with the help of public flogging of the first actors (and in modern online realities, any document other than state secrets quickly becomes publicly available), as is done, including in the theater. Mossovet means admitting your own helplessness and agreeing to the theater’s reputational losses. Domogarov, as a famous and beloved artist, will not lose his fame, but the management of the Mossovet Theater can continue to count the lost points.

And even a new order, seemingly satisfying the artist’s request to resign from his role in a new performance, can be considered as a step towards a compromise. I would like to believe, but this is more likely to be seen as a desire to retain oneself in leadership positions in light of the latest personnel changes in the Moscow Department of Culture, where there are now no patrons.