In Yaroslavl, “taking into account public opinion,” the play “Einstein and Margarita” with Alexei Serebryakov and Ksenia Rappoport, who spoke out against the war, was cancelled

In Yaroslavl, the play "Einstein and Margarita" with Alexey Serebryakov and Ksenia Rappoport, which was planned to be shown on February 26 on the stage of the concert and entertainment center "Millennium", has been cancelled. The regional Ministry of Culture told TASS that this decision was made "taking into account public opinion."

Local activists spoke out against the play, in which Alexey Serebryakov and Ksenia Rappoport are playing. "These artists live abroad, speak out against the special military operation ( SVO ), and earn money in Russia," Astra quoted one of the denunciations.

The play "Einstein and Margarita" was staged by director Alexander Marin based on the play "Almar" by Alexander Gelman. The premiere took place in Moscow on June 12, 2022.

In February 2023, the performance was cancelled in St. Petersburg, in May — in Yekaterinburg, in June — in Novosibirsk. The cancellations were explained by technical reasons. Meduza's sources in theatrical circles, in turn, said that this happened because of Ksenia Rappoport's anti-war position.

Alexey Serebryakov, who left for Canada, returned to Russia two years ago. Since the summer of 2022, he began to financially support the Doctor Liza Foundation. In July 2023, Serebryakov, who had previously spoken out against the war, recorded a video message in which he described how, together with the Doctor Liza Foundation, he was helping a 13-year-old girl named Polina from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. Meduza's sources linked the appearance of this message to the fact that the artist was trying to avoid a ban on the screening of Einstein and Margarita.