Boris Akunin, a Russian fiction author, says the Russian Prosecutor’s Office has demanded that his name be removed from theatre posters advertising a performance based on one of his books, according to his Telegram channel.
“I received a call from one more theatre today where there’s a performance based on my book. The Prosecutor’s Office is pressing them into removing any mentions of my name, threatening the theatre with “tough times”. So, the theatre’s administration asked me what they should do: remove my name or take the entire performance off the stage,” Akunin wrote.
He says he suggested that his name be removed and the performance be kept in the theatre’s schedule. “All these nameless posters and theatre cards will be brilliant findings for future collectors of items generated by the era of Putin’s debility. It flatters me really to turn into someone whose name cannot be pronounced, into a You-Know-Who lord,” Akunin added.
Akunin reported last October that his name had been removed from posters in two theatres in Moscow and Saint Petersburg by order of the Ministry of Culture. Akunin said back then that he wasn’t blaming the theatres, but rather sympathised with their leaders.
The Ministry of Culture stated that it was removing the names of those who “left the country in this difficult period, gave up on Russia, those who spoke publicly against Russia’s rich culture”.
Akunin spoke up against the war in Ukraine numerous times. A major Russian book retailer discontinued sales of his books in June.
