Liya Akhedzhakova said goodbye to the Sovremennik stage in an open letter

Actress Liya Akhedzhakova wrote a letter published on the Free Space website (a project of the Novaya Gazeta team), in which she said goodbye to the stage of the Sovremennik Theater and thanked people for letters of support. According to her, the new director of the theater, Yuri Kravets, said that the department of culture supported his decision to remove the actress from the repertoire of Sovremennik.

“I didn’t have time to say goodbye to my stage. My dear, beloved stage – you gave me the opportunity to confess, declare my love to people whom I love, appreciate, respect, what playwrights! What directors! What partners! – wrote the actress, – Farewell, my dear. Hold on. We, the artists, love and remember you. Long life to you!

Liya Akhedzhkova said that, according to Yuri Kravets, Sovremennik was inundated with “letters from workers” demanding that she be removed from the stage. He also told the actress by phone that he would consult with the chairman of the artistic council in order to engage her in some play, “as long as the essence and the matter,” reports Ms. Akhedzhakova.

“Recently, a “network tribunal”, according to the apt diagnosis of Muratov (Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta.— “b”), was outraged about my dislike for the Motherland, ”said the actress. In addition, Ms. Akhedzhakova thanked Novaya Gazeta and director Kirill Serebrennikov, who “threw a call” to support the actress amid the cancellation of her performances.

Liya Akhedzhakova, 84, did not support Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. In July 2022, information appeared in the media that Sovremennik was refusing to show performances with the participation of the actress. Then the press service of the theater these statements denied.By the end of last year, the performances of the actress began to be canceled and rescheduled.

In particular, on December 30, the performance “My grandson Benjamin” was postponed for an indefinite period, which was supposed to take place on January 4 at the Vyborgsky Palace of Culture in St. Petersburg. Prior to this, the poster with the participation of the actress was noticed by the vice-speaker of the Moscow City Duma Andrey Medvedev, a member of the United Russia faction Kirill Shitov and a member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation Marina Akhmedova. Together they opposed the performance, in which the main role will be played by an actress who opposes the special operation. February 8 Theater “Sovremennik” announced about the replacement of the play “The Gin Game”, in which Liya Akhedzhakova plays.

Erdni Kagaltynov