All-Russia conference of theatre directors gathers in Moscow

Some 400 leading theatre directors of Russia have gathered for an all-Russia conference of theatre directors which opened on Saturday.

"The conference was not initiated by any officials but was prompted by the very life of the Russian theatre and by all that is happening to it," chairman of the Russian Union of Theatre Figures Alexander Kalyagin said. "The Russian theatre is now living through difficult times, and it is important to understand if we can change the situation, otherwise we'll witness the unique ensemble of theatre directors die away." According to Kalyagin, over the two days the conference will last the least numerous, yet the major team of theatre directors will have to talk and decide where the Russian theatre is moving.

"There was Stanislavskiy, Meyerhold, Vakhtangov, Tairov; they used to have differences, yet they managed to lay a basis for the beautiful Russian theatre which found itself at the avant-garde of the world theatre," Kalyagin said. He assumes that the conferees should discuss whether the present-generation directors are capable of preserving the precious heritage of the great teachers.