"I have nothing to make excuses

Last week, the Minister of Culture of the Perm Territory Igor Gladnev suddenly fired the artistic director of the Perm Theater-theater Boris Milgram. No one expected such a turn of events: the Milgram contract did not expire, plans for the next season were painted. The Khudruk himself began preparing the new performance “Caligula” based on the play by Albert Camu. However, the 278th article of the Labor Code was applied to Milgram, allowing the founder to terminate the contract with the head of the subordinate institution at any time. The list of claims made by Milgram on the Perm Ministry of Culture sounded equally menacingly - violations of the legislation, the discrepancy between the “Fundamentals of the Cultural Policy of the Russian Federation” - how slid. Not a single specific violation, worthwhile, was named. The theme with the upcoming tour of the Satyricon Theater was extended, which Milgram allegedly prevented by Milgram. Last Monday, lawyer Viktor Shilov, who was instructed to make adjustments to the charter of the theater, was appointed to the place of Milgram: to change his name to “Drama Theater. I.T. Bobylev ”and eliminating the position of artistic director, making a sovereign leader of the director.

Despite the vacation season, the dismissal of Boris Milgram made a noise - both in Perm and among the Russian theater community. Letters and telegrams with a demand to review the decision made in the name of the governor of Viktor Basargin. Among those who turned to the governor were employees of the theater-theater and its spectators, cultural figures of Perm and other cities, including very famous. The distrust of the decision of the Ministry of Culture of the Perm Territory spurred for a long time and firmly soaked by the reputation of Minister Gladnev. His conflicts with the head of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater Theodore Krentzis, reformatting the museum of memory of the victims of the Stalinist repressions (henceforth, had to talk about the labor feat of the camp authorities) and the holding of the Festival “Cheerful Mullein” dedicated to throwing cow cakes. Last year, Gladnev similarly tried to dismiss the director of the Komi-Permyak Drama Theater in Kudymkar Anatoly Chetina, but he managed to defend his post.

The Governor of the Perm Territory Viktor Basargin, apparently, also does not feel more complete confidence in his minister. Last Wednesday, he made an unexpected decision to temporarily remove Gladnev from his post and form a commission, which was imputed by the validity of the dismissal of Boris Milgram. The commission was headed by the Khudruk of the Perm Youth Theater Mikhail Skomorokhov. On the other hand, the gloating voices of those figures who cannot forgive Boris Milgram of his participation in the Perm “cultural revolution” of Governor Oleg Chirkunov also sound. COLTA.RU called Boris Milgram, and also collected a number of public statements from open sources of supporters and opponents of dismissal.

- How would you comment on your dismissal?

- I do not want to comment on. Perhaps you noticed: over the past days, I talked little with the press, tried not to give interviews to the right and left. I also plan to behave further. I do not want to make excuses - I have nothing to make excuses. I do not want to look like the organizer of the campaign of my own support. Yes, I am well aware that this is not only about me, we are talking about the further existence of the Theater-Theater, about the fate of our team, the people with whom I work, who trust me. However, it seems to me that it is more correct to be silent and listen to what others will say. I am a director, I turn to the public with my performances, my work, and not my performances in the press. Now, apparently, the moment of feedback has come. If I and my work are needed, in demand, then there will be those who say everything for me. And besides, understand correctly - I now have a somewhat depressed state, mood: I do not want to make long speeches.

- Information on the removal of Minister Gladnev and the creation of a conflict interdepartmental commission did not improve your mood?

- Frankly, not particularly. So far, the creation of this commission has led only to the arrival of another check to our theater. I'm not afraid of checks - check for health. We had a lot of these checks lately. I am afraid of another - that all decisions are already adopted at the top and this commission will simply be tried to use to repay public resonance. Everything looks strange: at first they fired, now they decided to check. I do not understand causal logic, so I can’t be sure of anything.

I am now worried about my own career, but the fate of the Theater-Theater, in the development of which we are all artists, directors, services-have invested a lot of effort.

- Words of support, sounding to you these days, are also not pleasing?

- Well, how can they not please? You discover that there are many good, disinterested, indifferent people in the world. And somewhere far, and close. No, I guessed that there were a lot of them, but received visual confirmation. It's nice to see the support of the troupe, our artists, our services. It is pleasant and even unexpected that many people who seemed opponents suddenly defended the Theater Theater. And I also felt the support of the Russian theater community, for which I am immensely grateful to everyone.

-If you still have to leave, how do you plan to continue the director's career? Will you work in Perm or in other cities?

- I will not answer this question. I am now worried about my own career, but the fate of the theater, in the development of which we all - artists, directors, services - have invested a lot of effort. Theater-theater today is a lively, capable creative organism. If they destroy it, break through the knee, many people who work in it will suffer. This is the most important thing for me now.

"The initiators of the dismissal of Milgram were not taking care of the development of the theater, but some other motives"

Konstantin Raikin , the artistic director of the Moscow Satyricon Theater (from an interview with Rossiy newspaper): “The fact that my colleague acted unfairly, guided by personal motives is practically clear to me. It is no coincidence that the head of the Perm opera Theodore Krentzis also experiences difficulties in relations with local cultural power. Yes, such creative people are always uncomfortable, with them it is always more difficult than with officials. But these people are unique, they need to be protected, because they do not have replacements. ”

Nikolai Burlyaev , actor and director of the Festival “Golden Vityaz” (from the open letter to Governor Viktor Basargin): “The long-term activity of Mr. Milgram has nothing to do with the basics and strategy of the state cultural policy of the Russian Federation, based on moral and ethical norms and traditional spiritual and moral culture.”

Adolf Shapiro , the art of Bryantsev (St. Petersburg), the president of the Russian Center of the Asseticist (from an open letter to Governor Basargin): “Presenting your employment, I would not dare to write if the news of the dismissal of Boris Milgram did not cause a fuss. I will not talk about the fruitful work of your “theater-theater”, led by an outstanding director, that many cities are in need of such bright leaders as Boris Milgram. You, of course, know this better than me. That is why I am sure - an inexplicable decision to dismiss our talented colleague, which caused, to put it mildly, bewilderment, was accepted without your participation. ”

Tatyana Tikhonovets , a leading theater critic Perm: “The theater took an empty niche in the city-a musical and drama theater. And this niche turned out to be very in demand. Musicals, dramatic performances of a large form serve the audience majority. It is difficult to get to them. Avangard youth, an intellectual minority comes to the performances “The Scene-Young Scene”. The theater is very difficult to build. Milgram needed this for twelve years. And you can destroy with one stroke of the bureaucratic pen. ”

Evgeny Mironov , Hudruck of the Moscow Theater of Nations (from an open letter to Governor Basargin): “Time, method and argumentation of the dismissal of Boris Milgram testify that it was not at all concern for the development and updating of the theater that led the initiators of this action, but some other motives.”

Sergey Fedotov , artistic director of the Perm theater “near the bridge” (from an interview with the Ural-Inform channel): “The theater-theater program does not correspond to what the Ministry of Culture wants, which wants it to be a drama theater, not musical. And then, I want to say that when four years ago, Milgram, being the Minister of Culture, threw four theater from the regional department to the municipal one-he thought to somehow free the budget for the “theater-theater” and that it would help him, but this did not help him. Therefore, this situation, when the four theater, were thrown out of the regional department, I personally will never forget Milgram. ”

Alexander Kalyagin , Art Theater of the Moscow Theater Cetera , chairman of the Union of Theater Workers of Russia (from an open letter to Governor Viktor Basargin): “I do not question the right of the founder to solve personnel issues in subordinate institutions. Moreover, I know that, in accordance with the current Labor Code, the head of the organization can be dismissed on one day even without his guilty actions, in fact, at the whim of the founder. But, you must admit, if you use this right, it is unreasonable, to wave it like a club right and right, you can "break firewood". "

Evgeny Zlobin , Chairman of the Perm Regional Branch of the Great Fatherland party (from a speech on public discussion, is transmitted according to the transcript on the site ZVZDA . RU ): “I believe that the removal itself ... wears a positive shade. I was at the performance of <Milgram> “Eight women”. I came out from there, and I had devastation, because I expected to see some French musical there, humor there and so on, but in fact there was propaganda of greed, the destruction of the family, some kind of continuous debauchery ... "