Russian Theater Community Fractured by Exile and Pressure

Russian theater’s exiles and the artists who stayed have almost nowhere left to see each other’s work. Once a year, in Yerevan, they do.

After 2022, Russia’s theater community was left fractured: many directors, actors, and playwrights had to emigrate, parting ways with longtime collaborators. Entire institutions closed under pressure from the authorities: the Gogol Center, the Meyerhold Center, the NET festival, and the magazine Teatr (“Theater”). Almost no venues remain where Russians who left and Russians who stayed can follow one another’s work — with one exception: Chronofest, a festival organized in St. Petersburg by the...