Critic Katerina Gordeeva
Kirill Serebrennikov is my illustrious peer, my friend. I’ve known him just about as long as I’ve been alive on this earth. We grew up together. He is an honest, decent and extremely talented man whose raison d’etre is art. Not politics, not petty squabbles, not kickbacks, not insinuations. Art. Kirill founded a theater, the Gogol Center, which has become a place of power and a center of gravity for thousands of people, many of whom had been indifferent to theater before. Even when this disgusting campaign began — this stinking persecution — Kirill didn’t throw in the towel. He directed and premiered a show, directed another, and began work on a film.
Kirill is what I’m proud of in my country. His work is what this era will be remembered for. My friend and illustrious peer Kirill Serebrennikov has much more to do. And I believe that he’ll do it.
And you, scum, who have no use for all this, who dream of a gray medieval kingdom — you will be forgotten. Oblivion is worse than a curse. That you can be sure of.