performances must reflect “traditional values”

When staging performances, federal theaters in Russia must keep in mind Vladimir Putin’s decree on “traditional spiritual and moral values” and report on exactly which value from the list corresponds to this or that production. This follows from a letter sent to theaters from the Ministry of Culture of Russia. The Telegram channels “Theatr” and “We can explain” reported on this letter. It is confirmed that it was signed by Yulia Zgurskaya, head of the department of state programs of the Ministry of Culture. The Ministry of Culture did not officially confirm or deny the fact of sending such a letter.

“We can explain” claims that it has a copy of the document, and its authenticity was confirmed by an employee of one of the theaters.

“The government of the Russian Federation wants to change the goal setting of the state task and move from quantitative indicators to qualitative ones,” the letter says. Instead of data on the number of spectators who attended the performances, theaters are now offered to report on which particular values, listed in Putin’s decree, correspond to these or other productions. “Please send the information in a cover letter with a filled-in plate,” the document says.

“Before the new year, the board of the Ministry of Culture was ordered to collect and calculate the “values”, – says the source “We can explain”. “If someone starts to complain that the conditional “Marriage” does not correspond to “family values”, then it is logical not to pay for it budget money”, – the publication quotes the words of an unexpected employee of one of the theaters.

• In November 2022, Putin signed a decree “On approval of the Fundamentals of State Policy for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values.” It lists what the Russian president considers such values. Among them are “life, dignity, human rights and freedoms”, “patriotism”, “citizenship”, “service to the Fatherland”, as well as “strong family”, “creative work”, “priority of the spiritual over the material” and so on. The Russian authorities use rhetoric about “moral values” in different contexts – for example, justifying the need to restrict LGBT rights or invade Ukraine.