Elena Kovalskaya (Russian: Елена Ковальская) is a Russian theatre critic, curator, and teacher. She teaches the history of foreign theatre at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS), and directs a master's program there in social theatre.[1] Until she resigned in protest at the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, she was artistic director at the Meyerhold Theatre and Cultural Center (TsIM).
Elena Kovalskaya | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Curator, theatre critic, teacher  |
| Employer | |
Life
editKovalskaya graduated in theatre science from GITIS. From 1999 to 2012 she was a reviewer for the magazine Afisha, and from 2006 she curated the Lyubimovka New Playwrights Festival.[1]
From 2012 she and Victor Ryzhakov created an educational project, 'The School of Theater Leader', at the Meyerhold Center. In 2013 she was appointed art director at the Meyerhold Center.[1] At the start of 2019 Kovalskaya was interviewed about her hopes and fears for the arts in 2019. She looked forward to the official Year of Theater in Russia, and the coming of the Theatre Olympics to Saint Petersburg. "It looks like the government is trying to tame the obstinate theater with carrots and sticks."[2]
In 2020 Kovalskaya became director of the Meyerhold Center.[1]
When the Russian military invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Kovalskaya resigned her position as director of the state-owned Meyerhold Center in protest. She wrote that it was "impossible to work for a murderer and receive salary from him".[3] She was replaced by Serbian director Emir Kusturica.[4]
Works
edit- Novaja drama : [pʹesy i statʹi ; zamoe zametnoe javlenie na sovremennoj russkoj scene. (tr. "New Drama; the most notable statement on the modern Russian stage") Saint Peterburg: Seans, 2008.
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Elena Kovalskaya". Saint Petersburg International Cultural Forum. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
- ^ Michele A. Berdy; Andrei Muchnik (16 January 2019). "Hopes and Fears in the Arts: What will 2019 bring?". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
- ^ Tristan Bove (24 February 2022). "Russian celebrities risk being banned for life to slam Putin's attack on Ukraine". Fortune. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
- ^ "Emir Kusturica nommé au Théâtre académique de l'armée russe à la veille de la guerre en Ukraine" [Emir Kusturica appointed to the Academic Theater of the Russian Army on the eve of the war in Ukraine]. LEFIGARO (in French). 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2022-02-26.