Petrenko, Bezrukov or Mironov: who will head the Maly Theater after Solomin

They could continue the acting tradition of appointments

The Maly Theater on Monday saw off its artistic director Yuri Solomin on his last journey. Speeches, tears, the last goodbye. But nevertheless, the question remains unspoken in the troupe – who? Who will take the helm of an academic theater with a history of 268 years? “MK” tried to make its forecast.

Everyone noticed that not all the artists were at the farewell party. But this is explained by the fact that after the end of New Year’s work, many flew away on vacation for eight days. Some managed to return the ticket and return, but others did not. But this is by the way, the main thing now on the agenda is the appointment of a new leader.

It must be said that traditionally in the Ostrovsky House (as the Maly Theater is called) the artistic director was an artist. At one time, Yuri Solomin replaced Mikhail Tsarev in this post. Will the tradition continue? If you look at the troupe, it is difficult to clearly name the candidate. The luminaries, such as the wonderful artist Vasily Bochkarev, who could well lead the theater, are already old. The young ones, as they say, have not yet grown up. A couple of names were heard on the sidelines – Igor Petrenko, Gleb Podgorodinsky, but the weight is not the same, although both are laureates of the State Prize of the Russian Federation.

The female version of leadership, it seems to me, is not being considered, if only because Irina Muravyova, Lyudmila Polyakova, Lyudmila Titova, and Svetlana Amanova, despite their big names and talent, do not have such ambitions. And in the history of the Maly Theater there was no such precedent.

Can the Ministry of Culture, which controls the Maly Theater, appoint an outsider there? Quite, especially since you don’t have to look far for examples: the Art Theater was headed by GITIS graduate Sergei Zhenovach, he was replaced by a graduate of the St. Petersburg school Konstantin Khabensky, who holds this post to this day. Among those whose candidacy the Ministry of Culture may consider, there are two names: Sergei Bezrukov and Evgeniy Mironov. But, most likely, this is just idle talk, since both have their own theaters, and both, over the years of managing them, have shown themselves to be fully accomplished artistic directors, capable of leading and leading.

But it is worth paying attention to the fact that in such an important and sensitive issue, as the practice of recent years shows, one should not rush. Haste leads to disastrous results, as we see in the example of Sovremennik, where an artistic director was appointed almost on the day of Galina Volchek’s funeral. Whether for this or for some other reason the hasty appointee lasted no more than two seasons, it is now difficult to say, but nevertheless the example is more than conclusive.

Therefore, in the case of the Maly Theater, we should probably expect a pause that is respectful towards the staff. Most likely, an artistic council will be formed, which will include the above-mentioned actors and the young director Alexei Dubrovsky, who in recent years has been, in fact, the right hand of Yuri Solomin. The main responsibility as a result of power will be concentrated in the hands of director Tamara Mikhailova. However, given the history of appointments at other major theaters, surprises can be expected.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29196 dated January 17, 2024

Newspaper headline:
Who will head the Maly Theater?