Yan Gordeyev, Maria Bondarenko (Rostov-on-Don)
Published: 16 May, 2011, 06:31On May 25, the regional modern drama festival will open in Rostov-on-Don. It has not yet begun, but this event has already attracted a great deal of attention: It was expected that a satirical one-man show about Vladimir Putin would be held on the stage of the local Theater for Young Audiences. The play, titled “Prebiotics,” by well-known blogger Vladimir Golyshev (which the author was planning to play from the stage of the theater) is a narrative about the premier’s relationship with his entourage. Nezavisimaya Gazeta learned that the scandalous playwright has been denied stage production.
The acting director of the Theater for Young Audiences, Aleksandr Bliznyuk, told NG: “It was enough for me to read one page of the play to understand what it is.”
As a result, the author was banned from taking part in the festival of playwrights.
“Even with today’s democracy, there must be some limits of decency,” argued Bliznyuk. Meanwhile, the news that the blogger would be reading his play quickly spread, and was able to make a lot of noise. The author of “Prebiotics” is a former staff member of Gleb Pavlovsky’s Effective Policy Fund, a former political consultant, and currently a well-known blogger and publicist. His play has been available to readers online already for several months.
The piece is written in biting satirical style. The scene unfolds sometime around the dismissal of Yury Luzhkov, in September 2010. However, the protagonist in “Prebiotics” is Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The first act opens on the shore of the famous Lake Seliger: “The boardwalk platform is filled with chairs. In the center is Putin. Near him is Peskov. Around them are youth from all walks of life: nymphets, subtle dweebs…”
“Act Two, at the All-Russian Exhibit Center. Yury Luzhkov treats the prime minister with honey from his own bee garden. Putin asks the mayor: ‘Can honey be poisonous? Because I have a lot of unfinished business. I wouldn’t want it to be like this – so suddenly…’ Luzhkov (perplexed) answers: ‘It’s not dangerous. At most, vomit. Sometimes chills. No one has yet died of honey.’”
In his blog, the playwright jokingly asks lawyers, “in what types of positions can we have ‘Vladimir Putin’s image’ legally?”
The vice president of the Center for Political Technologies, Aleksey Makarkin, believes that this is a way to test people.
“Golyshev comes out with his play, and everyone looks to see whether or not he will pass, whether or not he will be allowed,” he said. “If the issue is settled favorably, then he will serve as an example for the rest…. It may be prohibited, but then it will quickly spread over the Internet.”
Makarkin noted that public opinion has a much greater role today. And the country’s two power centers are greatly expanding the scope of discussion.
“There are increasingly less topics that are taboo,” he said. “Certainly, there are those who set the limits, but their number is slowly declining.”
“I’ve read the play, and I’m not impressed,” Yevgeny Minchenko, general director of the International Institute of Political Expertise, told NG. “I think that in present conditions, this play will look like mockery. After all, it portrays a weakening Putin. Meanwhile, today the apparent trend is the strengthening of the [prime minister’s positions].”
Minchenko believes that the author of the play is either too late, or conversely, too early. He also does not exclude the possibility that this may have been politically commissioned.
“It seems that the leadership is not as monolithic as it is presented to be,” he suggested.
Published: 16 May, 2011, 06:31
| May 2011 | ||||||
The acting director of the Theater for Young Audiences, Aleksandr Bliznyuk, told NG: “It was enough for me to read one page of the play to understand what it is.”
As a result, the author was banned from taking part in the festival of playwrights.
“Even with today’s democracy, there must be some limits of decency,” argued Bliznyuk. Meanwhile, the news that the blogger would be reading his play quickly spread, and was able to make a lot of noise. The author of “Prebiotics” is a former staff member of Gleb Pavlovsky’s Effective Policy Fund, a former political consultant, and currently a well-known blogger and publicist. His play has been available to readers online already for several months.
The piece is written in biting satirical style. The scene unfolds sometime around the dismissal of Yury Luzhkov, in September 2010. However, the protagonist in “Prebiotics” is Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The first act opens on the shore of the famous Lake Seliger: “The boardwalk platform is filled with chairs. In the center is Putin. Near him is Peskov. Around them are youth from all walks of life: nymphets, subtle dweebs…”
“Act Two, at the All-Russian Exhibit Center. Yury Luzhkov treats the prime minister with honey from his own bee garden. Putin asks the mayor: ‘Can honey be poisonous? Because I have a lot of unfinished business. I wouldn’t want it to be like this – so suddenly…’ Luzhkov (perplexed) answers: ‘It’s not dangerous. At most, vomit. Sometimes chills. No one has yet died of honey.’”
In his blog, the playwright jokingly asks lawyers, “in what types of positions can we have ‘Vladimir Putin’s image’ legally?”
The vice president of the Center for Political Technologies, Aleksey Makarkin, believes that this is a way to test people.
“Golyshev comes out with his play, and everyone looks to see whether or not he will pass, whether or not he will be allowed,” he said. “If the issue is settled favorably, then he will serve as an example for the rest…. It may be prohibited, but then it will quickly spread over the Internet.”
Makarkin noted that public opinion has a much greater role today. And the country’s two power centers are greatly expanding the scope of discussion.
“There are increasingly less topics that are taboo,” he said. “Certainly, there are those who set the limits, but their number is slowly declining.”
“I’ve read the play, and I’m not impressed,” Yevgeny Minchenko, general director of the International Institute of Political Expertise, told NG. “I think that in present conditions, this play will look like mockery. After all, it portrays a weakening Putin. Meanwhile, today the apparent trend is the strengthening of the [prime minister’s positions].”
Minchenko believes that the author of the play is either too late, or conversely, too early. He also does not exclude the possibility that this may have been politically commissioned.
“It seems that the leadership is not as monolithic as it is presented to be,” he suggested.
No comments:
Post a Comment