Former artistic director of the Moscow Art Theater. Gorky Eduard Boyakov and the former trustees of the theater are launching a new theater, Boyakov himself told Vedomosti. “We decided to create a new theater together with the trustees of the Moscow Art Theater who left after me – the UMMC group and the Institute for Cultural Policy. Also, negotiations on participation in this project of MTS are in the final stage, ”Boyakov said.
The launch of the new project, according to him, is expected in early 2022, active rehearsals should start in spring, and the first performances – in the fall of next year. Boyakov did not name the name of the future theater.
The Moscow Art Theater Board of Trustees was established in 2020 on the basis of the Institute for Cultural Policy Foundation, it includes UMMC General Director Andrey Kozitsyn, UMMC Commercial Director Igor Kudryashkin, Rostselmash Board Chairman Konstantin Babkin, Synergy Corporation President Vadim Lobov and etc. For the 2020/21 season, the council attracted 150 million rubles for new theater productions. These funds were used to release the performances “The Nuremberg Waltz”, “Laurel”, “The Prime Minister Has Few Friends” and others.
November 1 Boyakov, who became artistic director of the Moscow Art Theater. M. Gorky in December 2018, announced on his Facebook page about the dismissal. After Boyakov left the Moscow Art Theater, the Board of Trustees stopped cooperation with the theater. By the decision of the Ministry of Culture, which is the founder of the Moscow Art Theater on October 27, the theater’s general director was replaced – in this position, Oleg Mikhailov was replaced by Vladimir Kekhman. The new director general of the theater, according to Boyakov, invited him to write a letter of resignation of his own free will.
Kekhman explained his decision to “say goodbye to Boyakov” in an interview to the Moscow-24 TV channel with a number of reasons, including financial. According to him, by the time he came to the Moscow Art Theater, the theater had 2 million rubles in its accounts. and there was nothing to pay the salary with. “We met again with Edward and and. O. General Director Oleg Mikhailov. They tried to tell me where the money was, but they could not do it, ”Kekhman explained. He also said that there was a serious conflict in the theater between those people who worked with Eduard Boyakov and those who worked with Tatyana Doronina (until December 2018, she was the artistic director of the Moscow Art Theater, and then became the president of the theater).
A possible partnership with MTS was discussed while Boyakov was working at the Moscow Art Theater, the director said. But, he said, these negotiations were complicated by the fact that it was difficult for a commercial operator to invest in a state theater. When Boyakov offered the company a partnership with a private project, negotiations quickly moved forward, the director said. According to him, it is assumed that MTS will cooperate with the theater on the basis of its MTS Entertainment division, which develops concert venues throughout the country. In many productions, the theater will use modern technology, video, etc., and will stage immersive performances.
Boyakov did not disclose the amount of investments in the theater from partners. But, according to him, staging one performance on average costs 15-20 million rubles, and a large project – about 30 million rubles. The main investor of the project will be UMMC, he added.
Boyakov names the writer Zakhar Prilepin among the creative partners in the new project, who was his deputy for work at the Moscow Art Theater and remained in his post after his departure. Now, according to Boyakov, Prilepin is ready to move on to his new project.
The new structure will cooperate with the state, but on the condition of a public-private partnership, Boyakov says. “The theater will be largely mobile, it will not have a separate permanent site. We will do performances at different venues, ”he said.
Now, according to Boyakov, the main backbone of the creative troupe of the created theater is made up of people from the Moscow Art Theater – about 20-30 people. Boyakov is already negotiating new productions. “We are talking with Leonid Yakubovich, we are discussing with him a new production of Moliere’s ‘The Miser’. It will be a super performance, ”Boyakov said. Negotiations are also underway with the Moscow Art Theater to buy out the rights to stage the Lavr play. Participation in the Lavra is being discussed with actor Dmitry Pevtsov. “Everyone understands that Lavr will not be played at the Moscow Art Theater. We will either buy the rights or just make a new edition. Our trustees are negotiating with the Moscow Art Theater, ”said Eduard Boyakov.
The director of the performances “The Wonderful Georgian” and “The Snow Queen” Renata Satiriadi is already beginning to rehearse in partnership with the new theater, Boyakov said. Also a great performance will be the work based on the novel by Andrei Rubanov “Chlorophilia”. This performance will be staged personally by Boyakov, he said. A performance based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky “The Brothers Karamazov” is also planned.
Konstantin Babkin, in a conversation with Vedomosti, confirmed the information about his communication with Boyakov, said that he would “look at” his new projects with pleasure, but clarified that he did not know about them. An MTS spokesman declined to comment. Zakhar Prilepin did not answer the call from the Vedomosti correspondent. Representatives of UMMC and Synergy have not yet responded to Vedomosti’s request.
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