"Gorbachev" by Alvis Hermanis

With Yevgeny Mironov and Chulpana Khamatova.
In Russian with English subtitels.
Director, Stagedesign, Text: Alvis Hermanis
Production: Theatre Of Nations, Moscow 2020

On August 30, 2022, Mikhail Gorbachev died at the age of 91. Gorbachev was General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from March 1985 to August 1991, making him the most powerful man in the Soviet Union. The reforms he introduced under the headings of "Glasnost" and "Perestroika" ultimately led to the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Latvian director Alvis Hermanis, born in Riga in 1965 while still a citizen of the Soviet Union, staged the biographical documentary drama "Gorbachev" at the Moscow Theater of Nations in 2020. For the play, Hermanis had previously spent many months studying Gorbachev's personal notes and letters as well as official literature on Gorbachev and had also met with him in person.

"I had made the suggestion to do an evening about Gorbachev, who once brought down the Soviet system with his passion for glasnost and freedom of expression," as Hermanis reported in an interview with nachtkritik.de "Russia in 2020 was, after all, already on the way to becoming a totalitarian and fascist country again. I then even got an invitation from Gorbachev personally, and that made it possible for me to actually travel to Russia for a few days to meet him before rehearsals began. But the rehearsals for this production took place outside Russia in Riga."

The play begins in an artist's dressing room, where the two Russian theater stars Chulpana Khamatova and
Yevgeny Mironov slowly slip into the roles of Raissa Gorbacheva and her husband Mikhail. Mironov is also the artistic director of the Moscow Theatre of Nations. Mironov had personally obtained a special visa from Putin for Hermanis, who was on the list of undesirables in Russia after making statements critical of Putin.

At the premiere, where this recording was made, Mikhail Gorbachev was present in person in the audience. The standing ovation at the end is also for him, who finally comes on stage. This can also be seen in the recording. "Spasiba," meaning "thank you," he says quietly to the audience. "Spasiba!" someone shouts back from the hall.

"Many still don't understand why I made a theater in Putin's Russia. The answer is the production itself. It is a message for free people," Alvis Hermanis wrote on his Facebook page today. "With the production, worldwide tours were planned, but then the pandemic started and then the war. Chulpana Hamatova left Russia and Yevgeny Mironovs visited occupied Mariupol. Therefore, it is clear that this play will never be performed again."

We show the recording here in honor of Mikhail Gorbachev for 24 hours.

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August 31th, 8 p.m. - September 1st, 8.p.m.

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