This didn’t happen in one day. I have known Berkovich for a long time – she performed for two years in ‘Second Act. Grandchildren’, a play that I wrote and directed with Alexandra Polivanova – and in 2014, along playwright Valery Pecheikin, she invited me to participate in a small educational project entitled ‘Why is Shakespeare dangerous?’.
My role was to determine whether it is possible to stage ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in accordance with modern Russian legislation. Unfortunately, this task turned out to be very simple – even back in the summer of 2014, the authorities, if they so desired, could have seen violations of several Russian laws in Shakespeare’s play.
But it all started much earlier. Back in 2000, a criminal case was opened against artist Oleg Mavromati on charges of inciting ethnic and religious hatred over a scene in one of his films that involved a crucifixion. Mavromati was sentenced to prison, but fled the country and has been living in exile ever since. Four years later, creators of the exhibition ‘Caution, religion!’ at the Sakharov Museum were arrested under the same charges as Mavromati. The museum’s director and deputy director were found guilty and fined.
Article 29 of the Russian constitution guarantees the absence of censorship. Yet new laws that de facto ensure the real and effective functioning of censorship have only increased since the start of the full-scale war that Russia is waging in Ukraine.
Until February 2022, the authorities’ main tools to combat dissent were charges of “insulting religion”, “dissemination of LGBT propaganda” and “distortion of historical truth”. With the outbreak of the war, “spreading lies about the Russian army” has been added to this list.
Petriichuk and Berkovich’s arrests for aiding terrorism are tragic symptoms of the new times. All these laws and criminal articles, written in a language convenient for specific judicial interpretations, are applied selectively and differently for different citizens, including cultural figures.
Even as we were preparing to publish this piece, it was reported that a Moscow court had arrested in absentia Ukrainian film producer Alexander Rodnyansky and Polish Russian-born playwright Ivan Vyrypaev (known for his 2006 film ‘Euphoria’) for spreading fake information about the Russian military. Both have long been outside of Russia.
A state waging war needs new internal enemies. Not just dissenters, but also terrorists, anyone can be appointed – from little-known activists to the recipient of a national theatre award.
But would you expect anything else from a state that bombed Mariupol’s theatre?
Comments
We encourage anyone to comment, please consult the oD commenting guidelines if you have any questions.