Translated material
Dependent "mask"
The leadership of the Russian National Theater Prize and the Golden Mask festival made a statement in connection with the accusations of "violation of moral norms, Russophobia, contempt for the history of our country" and the promotion of "values alien to us." Such accusations were expressed at a recent meeting in the Ministry of Culture , First Deputy Minister Vladimir Aristarkhov , who believes that the Golden Mask should be fundamentally reformed so that it "does not harm the state."
The meeting was held on May 22 in Tula. Aristarkhov, an economist in education with twenty years of experience in the construction business, the United Russia party function, has been working in the Ministry of Culture since 2012 and has been heading, among other things, the Department of Control and High Schools. Here is a fragment of the transcript of his performance: “There is a theater festival, which from year to year systematically supports the productions that obviously contradict moral standards, obviously provoke society, obviously contain elements of Russophobia, contempt for the history of our country and consciously go beyond moral frames ... I mean the“ golden mask ”, if it is not clear to anyone. The form in which he has no one ... The cabbage soups issued for theatrical productions are not the drama, even if she considers himself new, which we must support The light of the foregoing, probably, is the question that one figure asked: "With whom are you, a master of culture?" - which we should ask for those who consider himself a cultural figure or against the people? "
In a commentary, signed by the President of the festival, George Turatorakin, the Laureate of the Golden Mask Konstantin Raikin and a member of the jury Igor Kostolevsky, the following is noted: the “Golden Mask Directorate” does not produce and does not create performances, ”and the award and the festival are a reflection of theatrical life in Russia. Performances are selected by expert councils approved by the Secretariat of the Union of Theater Workers . The result of the work of experts is a list of prize nominees selected throughout Russia formed on the basis of professional discussions and as a result of open voting. The Golden Mask Prize is awarded by professional jury, the composition of which is also approved by the STD of the Russian Federation.
The theater, Marina Dmitrevskaya , editor -in -chief of the Petersburg Theater Journal , tells about the meaning of the "Golden Mask" for Russian theater life Radio.
Marina Dmitrevskaya X Marina Dmitrevskaya-In our country there is only one theater award that the theater people somehow seek to receive-this is a “golden mask”. The prestige and value of the “mask” is undeniable for everyone who has at least some kind of attitude to the theater. In addition, for provincial theaters (and I go a lot in Russia, so I will decide to affirm this) this prize is also a powerful way of social protection: the theater that received the Mask is protected. Nominally in Russia there are a lot of theater awards, but I am skeptical about them. Actually, you need to understand: there is no such prize in nature that would arrange everyone, but the “mask” of its prestige, its professional significance for more than 20 years of existence managed to preserve.
In this case, I am quite worn, since the Golden Mask has not been cooperating with me for 15 years, after the “St. Petersburg Theater Journal” was suing the head of the STD Alexander Kalyagin: we opposed the alliance in the conflict around the Petersburg House of Veterans of the stage . All who are related to the distribution of the "golden mask", that is, experts and jury members, claims the STD secretariat, so the "mask" is not free from the Union of Theater Workers, although it was proposed to expand the range of critics, as far as I know.
My colleagues and I can sit in the theater chairs nearby, but to evaluate a particular performance in a completely different wayBut in general, this is what is important: one of the criteria for professionalism is respect for colleagues. In my opinion, quite respected colleagues gather in the Expert Council, and this principle of attitude to colleagues does not allow us to doubt each other's professionalism, so we must humbly accept the results of each jury's decision. Employees of the "St. Petersburg Theater Journal", the editor -in -chief of which I have been about as many years as the "mask" has existed, participate in its examination. I do not hear anything from my colleagues about them to be crushed, pouring their favorites - no, there is an arithmetic calculation of opinions. Opinions in the theater workshop are catastrophically diverge: my colleagues and I can sit in the theater chairs nearby, but to evaluate a particular performance in a completely different way. Everyone’s tastes are different, but the “mask” in structure is an excellent example that the general objectivity can win.
Marina Dmitrevskaya - About "Golden Mask" and "Cosmopolitanism"
- How do you explain the statements of the First Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Aristarkhov at a meeting in the Ministry of Culture on the implementation of the foundations of the Russian State Cultural Policy in Tula?
- This resembles 1949, the fight against "cosmopolitanism", the words of the deputy ministerly and meaningfully directly send us in Stalin's times. In mid -May, I was present at a meeting dedicated to the Golden Mask, which was held by the Union of Theater Workers. Representatives of the ministry were present there, and, if I am not mistaken, Mr. Aristarchus too. The completely different theatrical people gathered-someone with a “mask” collaborates, someone, like me, is not. There was a business and constructive conversation about what to improve in nominations, working with regions and so on. The dissonance sounded only one performance - theatrical critic Marina Timasheva, who presented the opinion of several colleagues with proposals about the reorganization of the "mask". Timasheva, in particular, said: we must call all critics, regardless of age, for example, Nikolai Zhegin, who is 90 years old, or the chief editor of the newspaper Culture Elena Yampolskaya , who has "the same diploma as yours."
A rally in Novosibirsk in support of the opera Tangaer. April 4As a result of our absolutely friendly and workshop conversation, which, by the way, rarely happen, the ministry said: “an abscess is upset”, the “mask” must be reorganized. Once the "mask" arose as an independent prize as a prize of the theater community. She arose at the moment when the theater union was rich, owned lands, lands, houses, factories and, in contrast or parallel to the state prize, gave his own. Over two decades, neither land nor land has been left, he was sitting on the money of the ministry, and became dependent from the ministry. And the "mask" dependent on the union. If, as before, the Golden Mask was financially independent, then the ministry says or did not say - the theater community would not lose the right to award what it wants to award, and to whom it wants to award. But now a rather complicated ball of dependencies has been formed, including financial, economic and so on. And if there are such addictions, then it is extremely difficult to ideologically resist Mr. Aristarkhov, ”says Marina Dmitrevskaya.
The theater community has different opinions about what the Golden Mask prize should be. According to the theater critic Marina Timasheva, to understand the nature of disputes, you need to know the "inner cuisine" "masks":
Marina Timasheva X Marina Timasheva- The Golden Mask is arranged so that it has an expert council that includes theatrical critics. First, they watch performances on the video, and then, if what they saw on the disks made a serious impression on them, the events go to the scene of the events. This is a fairly hard work, because very often, for example, you have to fly to Yakutsk and immediately, having looked at the performance, go back. Thus, the poster of the festival is formed. Then these performances come to Moscow, where they are watched by the second instance - the jury of the Golden Mask, the composition of which differs from the expert council. The jury includes not only theatrical critics (they are there in the minority), but mainly the practice of the theater - actors, directors, artists; In addition to them - conductors and composers, if we are talking about the musical "golden mask". There are two expert councils: one for dramatic theaters and doll theaters, the other for musical theaters. Similarly - two jury. Together, both jury evaluate only the performances presented in the nominations of “innovation” or “experiment”, since there are often such performances, the genre of which is difficult to determine. Both the jury and the expert council are not a constant structure, their compositions are changing.
The problem, it seems to me, is that this rotation of experts is insufficient. As a result, the same person can be eight times in the expert council, and some other people who have no less earned such an honorary position, do not participate in decisions and votes. Typically, the leadership of the "mask" answers this: many refuse. However, the proposal to make a complete list of existing theater critics in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities and at least try to make this rotation more serious from time to time.
Marina Timasheva about the expert council and the jury "Golden Mask"
If the director of the Golden Mask Maria Revyakina heard not only my appeal, but also the appeal of my colleagues from the New Izvestia and Novaya Gazeta Olga Egoshina and Marina Tokareva , it would now be easier to resist what was heard in the speech of the Deputy Minister of Culture Aristarkhov. We addressed this letter directly to it a couple of years ago and this was what we asked for - to compose full lists of theatrical critics and offer this work to all existing professionals. It seems to me that if the fate of nominant performances determined a larger number of theatrical critics, then this picture, this panorama would be much more objective. And then, perhaps, it would be possible to avoid those accusations that are now brought.
- When the Golden Mask only started, among her experts there were theatrical critics from the province. Is it practiced now?
Very often, the choice falls on performances about which it seems to them that this is an avant -garde. In fact, this vanguard is a hundred years at lunch!- Yes, but there are also very few of them, and this is also almost always the same people. Sometimes it seems that the views of those experts that enter the Golden Mask are mainly concentrated, as Olga Egoshina accurately noted, not really good in the theater, but on what is fashionable. Meanwhile, the Mask is a Russian National Prize. And it seems to me, like some of my other colleagues, that she should more likely show the performances, relatively speaking, the mainstream. That is, performances designed for the most wide audience, which are the results that we can talk about as real works of art. Very often, the choice falls on performances about which it seems to them that this is an avant -garde. In fact, this vanguard is a hundred years at lunch! But no-something is so experimental, something so fashionable, something that is today, and tomorrow it will no longer be. Because of this, the picture is very distorted. And not only in the eyes of people who love the theater and do not like politics. But it is also distorted in the eyes of people who draw political conclusions, observing this theater picture, ”says Marina Timasheva .
According to the editor -in -chief of the "St. Petersburg Theater Journal", the intervention of officials can put an end to the existence of the "Golden Mask" as an independent professional prize: I have the feeling that the ministry wants to take the "mask" into its own hands and turn it actually into a state prize“People who cannot be called specialists are now sitting in the Ministry of Culture,” says Marina Dmitrevskaya , “they do not track the theater process, they do not understand what theatrical interpretation is (this showed, for example, the story with the Tangaiser ), they do not understand that theatrical text is not a repetition of letters written by the writer. There are many questions for people who lead the Russian culture. It still seems to me that Mr. Aristarchus is extremely reckless, using the vocabulary of 1949-this is somehow not quite in today's trend.
- Well, why, just quite! As a matter of fact, the story you mentioned with the Tangaiser or with the play “Banshchik” in the Pskov Academic Theater is precisely confirmed. The response letter written by the leaders of the Golden Mask is compiled very carefully: we seem to have nothing to do with it, we do not put performances, we do not answer for morality, we are only a platform where different creative approaches are compared. It is known that the "mask" is funded mainly by Sberbank. Can this, coupled with the pressure of the ministry, lead to the fact that the expert council and the jury will be reformatted, they will include some kind of “correctly-patriotic” from the point of view of the state of people, and the results of the distribution of bonuses will be different?
- I have the feeling that the ministry wants to take a “mask” into its own hands and turn it actually into a state prize. We don’t even know who receives state prizes, their prestige is not too high, and the “mask” sounds loudly not only in the theater world. So, you need to take a “mask” for yourself, to reorganize it, using a popular and respected brand in order to now award the prize of those you want, for your own money. The ministry orders music - the ministry can distribute prizes. The ministry can dictate to the Kalyagin secretariat, whom to introduce into experts.
- A lot is now talking about the onset of state conservative ideology on everything that does not fit into the framework of this ideology. The only thing that could be opposed to this pressure was the resistance of free creative people. What do you think is there potential for such resistance in the theater community?
Ideology and unprofessionalism dance a waltz together, one reinforces the other- I have doubts about this. Firstly, everyone is very tired. We endlessly resist, sit in the trenches and shoot back, we will protect one, then the other ... unity in the theater workshop, unfortunately, is not. After all, after the story with Tangaiser , the Ministry of Culture of Boris Mezdrich swallowed the decision of the Ministry of Culture . They wrote different letters of protest and support, but then gather and present the general opinion of professionals ... this did not happen. It seems to me that the situation is as follows: everyone is for himself. However, this meeting at the table of the STD of different people showed that the theater people can unite. But since everyone now depends on state money (other financial channels simply do not exist), everyone still repairs the fence of their garden, and one by one, of course, they grab everyone not childishly. I have sad, in order not to say the tragic, the feeling of what is happening. Ideology and unprofessionalism dance a waltz together, one reinforces the other. If you are unprofessional, you can hide behind your "ideological ringing." Well, if Mr. Aristarkhov was not taught what the interpretation is and what is the modern theater language, how can he judge the performances that claim the Mask award? - The editor -in -chief of the "St. Petersburg Theater Journal" Marina Dmitrevskaya asks.
The Russian National Theater Prize "Golden Mask" was established in 1993 by the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation and is awarded the performances of all the genres of theatrical art: drama, opera, ballet, modern dance, operetta and musical, puppet theater. The festival in the spring of each year presents the most significant performances from the cities of Russia in Moscow.