Bolshoi Theatre cancels upcoming shows by Russian directors Kirill Serebrennikov and Timofey Kulyabin

The Bolshoi Theatre has cancelled the upcoming shows by Russian directors Kirill Serebrennikov and Timofey Kulyabin. The theatre’s Telegram channel informed that Serebrennikov’s Nureyev ballet and Kulyabin’s Don Pasquale opera shows planned for May will be cancelled.

On May 6, 7 and 8, the Spartacus ballet will be shown instead of Nureyev, and on May 5, 6, 7 and 8, the Barber of Seville opera will be shown instead of Don Pasquale.

The theatre did not specify why the shows were cancelled.

On March 28, a Moscow court cancelled Serebrennikov’s suspended prison sentence in an embezzlement case that many considered politically motivated.

In late March, it was reported that Serebrennikov had left Russia for France. French cinema expert Joel Chapron published Serebrennikov’s photo taken on Place de la Bastille in Paris. The Russian director wore a T-shirt that said “I am turning off the TV.”

Director Timofey Kulyabin spoke against the war in Ukraine on February 25, when he was in Prague. In April, Kulyabin resigned as head director of Krasny Fakel theatre in Novosibirsk.