Three actresses stopped working with the Voronezh Chamber Theater due to the resignation of artistic director Bychkov

Leading actresses of the Voronezh Chamber Theater Natalia Shevchenko, Tatyana Babenkova and Yana Kuzina stopped working with the theater in protest due to the resignation of the artistic director and founder of the theater Mikhail Bychkov. As reported press service theater, due to the departure of actresses from the repertoire, several performances will disappear.

The press service statement clarifies that actress Tatyana Babenkova played on the theater stage as a guest artist for several performances a month. “After the dismissal of Mikhail Bychkov, the actress informed the theater of her desire to stop playing on this stage,” the message says. Due to Tatiana Babenkova’s refusal to cooperate, the performances “The Thunderstorm”, “Uncle Vanya”, “Stone” and “Camera Obscura” will disappear from the repertoire. For her role as Sonya in the play Uncle Vanya, Tatyana Babenkova was nominated for the Golden Mask.

Natalya Shevchenko is the co-founder of the theater, played leading roles in the plays “The Cherry Orchard”, “Ghosts”, “Balzaminov”, “Physticians”, “Cabal of the Holy One”. Yana Kuzina played in the plays “Child”, “Antigone”, “Bear” and “The Cherry Orchard”, “Players”, as well as “Bourgeois”. “Since all tickets for the Chamber Theater’s performances for November and December have been sold out, Natalya Shevchenko and Yana Kuzina agreed to take part in them as guest performers,” the theater noted.

In the theater group on VKontakte also published link to the petition in support of Mikhail Bychkov. The theater said in a statement that those who are unable to sign the petition “electronically” can do so at the theater itself.

November 23rd theater team of 63 people wrote a letter in defense of Mr. Bychkov and sent it to the governor of the Voronezh region, Alexander Gusev, to the Ministry of Culture, as well as to the administration of President Vladimir Putin. The regional Ministry of Culture responded by saying that they were “surprised” at the “direction” in which the letter was written, and also said that the dismissal of the artistic director would not harm the “creative component of the institution.”

Mikhail Bychkov was fired on November 21. He was informed of his dismissal on the same day, two hours before the end of his last working day. The order was signed by the head of the regional Ministry of Culture Maria Mazur. According to the Vesti Voronezh publication, Mikhail Bychkov was fired for his anti-war position. In particular, for the fact that in March 2022, Mikhail Bychkov signed a collective letter from Russian cultural figures who advocated the withdrawal of troops from the territory of Ukraine and holding negotiations.

According to the publication, theater director Oleg Tkachenko has been temporarily appointed acting artistic director. His signature in the letter in defense of the ex-artistic director is the last. Vesti Voronezh notes that the appointment of a new artistic director is planned before the beginning of 2024, and communication with applicants is currently underway.

Read more in the Kommersant article. “Mikhail Bychkov left the stage”.

Polina Motyzlevskaya