<title/>Dark Times<br />
<br /></h3>
<p/><title/></p>
<p/><title/></p>
<p>
These are strange times for Russian<br />
theater. On the one hand, state-sponsored conservatism, censorship<br />
and the growing influence of the Russian Orthodox Church have led to<br />
plays being shut down and theaters threatened.
</p>
<p>On another hand, never before has the<br />
Moscow theater scene been so popular.
</p>
<p>Serebrennikov, 47, is at the cutting<br />
edge of this renaissance. In 2012, he was appointed to run the Gogol<br />
Center by Moscow culture minister Sergey Kapkov. Under<br />
Serebrennikov’s leadership, the Gogol Center became Moscow’s most<br />
exciting cultural hub.
</p>
<p>At least initially, Moscow’s hottest<br />
director was not averse to working with authorities. In 2011, he<br />
staged Okolonolya, attributed to the Kremlin’s then powerful gray<br />
cardinal Vladislav Surkov.
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<p>But the theater’s launch sparked<br />
several protests organized by ultra-Orthodox activists who sent<br />
letters to prosecutors saying they were offended by nudity and<br />
obscene language in Serebrennikov’s plays. As time passed, the<br />
director became embroiled in open conflict with the Culture Ministry.
</p>
<p>A rebel emerged. Serebrennikov<br />
supported protests against Putin’s presidency in 2011. He advocated<br />
LGBT rights and even called Russia’s annexation of Crimea the act<br />
of “an impoverished thug who has lost his mind.”</p>
<p>His controversial film The Student,<br />
which explored matters of indoctrination, won the Francois Chalais<br />
prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
</p>
<p>One year on, in the very week that the<br />
festival re-opens on the French Riviera, Serebrennikov finds himself<br />
being taken away by masked men.</p>
<p lang="en-US"/></div>
</div><div class="post-meta wf-mobile-collapsed"><div class="entry-meta"><a href="https://cultureru.com/2017/05/23/" title="4:00 pm" class="data-link" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date updated" datetime="2017-05-23T16:00:00+00:00">May 23, 2017</time></a></div></div> <div class="author-info entry-author">
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<h4><span class="author-heading">Author:</span> admin</h4>
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