The Bratsk Drama Theater in the Irkutsk region, after a denunciation, canceled the show of the play “Illusions” based on the play by playwright Ivan Vyrypaev. This was announced by the head of the theater, Elena Tchaikovskaya, and “People of Baikal” drew attention to the publication.
“Illusions” was supposed to be held at the theater on January 25, February 15 and March 7. The denunciation, due to which the performance was cancelled, was written in connection with the sentencing in absentia to Vyrypaev — on December 15, a court in Moscow sentenced the playwright to eight years in prison in the case of “fake news” about the army due to speaking out against the war in Ukraine.
“We are withdrawing the performance from the show. The playwright talked himself into the article. Convicted and put on the wanted list. And we didn’t even know. Well, we don’t monitor the decisions of Russian courts <…> However, a vigilant citizen who follows the decisions of the Basmanny Court was indignant at the presence of this playwright in the repertoire of the play and wrote a letter to the appropriate place,” Tchaikovskaya wrote on her page on VKontak.
Zavlit of the theater said, that the performance, in her opinion, is good, but “who could have imagined that the author would suffer.” “I believe that before you blurt out something publicly, you need to think about the people who depend on you. And if you still feel drawn to the barricades, do something else. Repair the Primus, for example, alone,” she added.
In the comments to the publication, Tchaikovskaya clarified that she does not know what became the reason for the persecution of Vyrypaev. “I don’t know what the author said there. But since they sentenced him to 8 years, apparently something serious happened. But the war is going on. So we did the right thing. Otherwise it turns out that we support him. But this is not so. He did not coordinate his statements with us,” wrote Zavlit.
As “People of Baikal” note, Vyrypaev himself comes from the Irkutsk region. The website of the Bratsk Drama Theater says that the premiere of “Illusions” took place in February 2022.