Spurred on by speeches from famed film director Andrei Zvyagintsev and recently fired theater director Boris Mezdrich, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of a Novosibirsk theater Sunday to demand the ouster of Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, local media reported.
The Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater has been mired in scandal for weeks over a modern rendition of the Wagner opera “Tannhäuser,” which in part explored the life of Jesus Christ between the ages of 12 and 30, and featured scenes decried as sacrilegious by religious activists.
After a regional religious leader complained about the play, administrative charges were filed against Mezdrich — the theater’s director — and young opera director Timofei Kulyabin. A Novosibirsk court tossed out the case, but the theater’s troubles didn’t stop there.
Last weekend, news broke that Medinsky had fired Mezdrich, who would be replaced at the theater by Vladimir Kekhman, a director who has in the past openly discussed his disregard for the beleaguered rendition of "Tannhäuser." In comments posted to the Culture Ministry’s website in mid-March, Kekhman described Kulyabin’s version of the opera as a "_demonstration of #internal_godlessness._"
Mezdrich’s firing was due to his #failure_to_comply_with_instructions, state media reported at the time, citing the Culture Ministry.
Local police estimated that about 300 protesters had turned out for Sunday’s event, while Yabloka party leader Sergei Mitrokhin estimated some 5,000 people had gathered. FlashSiberia reported that the number stood at about 1,000.