The Union of Theater Workers re-establishes the “Golden Mask”

New Regulations on the National Theater Festival and the Golden Mask Award (Kommersant wrote about him on July 27) is still not ready – the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation (STD) is going to approve it only on October 30. But the “war for the gold-mask heritage” is already entering a decisive stage: the STD announced that it is withdrawing from the founders of the “Mask” and creating a new executive directorate of the festival. comments Esther Steinbock.

Dissatisfaction with the content of the “Golden Mask” and its independent expertise, plans to somehow rein in the award and give it ideological consistency – all this has regularly arisen for a long time, for ten years already. But until now, the “Mask” was defended, including through the efforts of the head of the STD Alexander Kalyagin, but now it is the STD that is forced to become the gravedigger of the “Golden Mask” with its usual format and usual tasks. At the same time, the Mask brand as a national theater festival still retains a certain value. One must think, that is why such a tactic was chosen: to keep a sonorous sign and fill it with the necessary content.

It would seem that the task is easier than an easy one: fire the director of the “Mask” Maria Revyakina, put in a new, obedient one – and do what you want. But the fact is that in its still existing form, the Golden Mask is not a subdivision of the Union of Theater Workers. This is an independent organization (ANO “Golden Mask Award and Festival”), and STD, which was only a co-founder, cannot fire anyone from it.

Therefore, the STD decided to withdraw from the membership of the notorious ANO and break the contractual relationship with the current directorate of “Mask”. Instead, a new executive directorate should appear, completely controlled by the STD apparatus, which means the Ministry of Culture.

It is with her that a new contract will be concluded for the organization of the award, the organization of competitive screenings, the holding of the ceremony, etc. So far, the STD has only announced that it has “started creating” the directorate; in fact, the contract with the former Mask, as Kommersant was told by the festival management, has not yet been formally terminated – legally, this is not such a quick process. And yet, the name of the new director has already been announced. This is Vladimir Misharin, in the now distant past the secretary of the STD and the director of the Yekaterinburg House of Actors, and in the near future – the director of the Winter Theater in Sochi and the Drama Theater in Yoshkar-Ola.

But it must be borne in mind that the activities of the “Mask” were not limited to competitive events in Moscow – the directorate held festivals throughout Russia, organized its own educational and other non-competitive projects. They were not regulated by the contract with STD. And theoretically, the “old” directorate can continue this activity. In any case, Maria Revyakina says so far: “We will be engaged in other projects, which we will definitely tell you later.” But, firstly, the rights to the Golden Mask trademark belong to the Union of Theater Workers, so these projects will probably have to be dealt with under a different brand.

Secondly, these projects need to find a budget. The obstinate “Mask” was deprived of state funding last year and was held on sponsorship money. But it is quite possible that the golden budget rain will now fall on the rebuilt Mask.

Actually, the answer to the question that worries many is immediately visible: why in this conflict between the authorities and the theatrical community, the STD, supposedly representing this community, so easily took the position of the opposing side? The fact is that STD, formally a public organization, actually depends on state subsidies. As we understand, the size of the subsidy can be revised (up to zero), and the way it is spent can become the subject of a careful and captious revision.

The message published by the STD contains a phrase that is very puzzling: the new directorate “will be entrusted with carrying out the entire range of activities for the preparation and holding of the award and the festival this year.” How this can be done remains unclear. Will a new expert council be urgently recruited, and the old one (which has practically finished viewing the performances of the past season and is called upon to draw up a competitive poster for the festival in 2024) dispersed? It is unlikely that the chiefs will be satisfied with the expertise of the “old” directorate. Moreover, this year there was already one “Mask”. When and how can another one be held? So far no one has answered these questions.