The Gogol Center may close

Rumors about the possible closure of the Gogol Center touched a nerve with the administration of the theater itself. One of the sources of their distribution was RTVI, which reported on the authorities' plans to terminate cooperation with the artistic director and director of the theater center.

What Alexey Agranovich and Alexey Kebeshev themselves think about this, who became the unwitting "culprits" of the discussion, became clear from the publications that appeared in the telegram channel of the cultural institution and on the theater's VKontakte page. The organization did not refute RTVI's information about a possible merger with one of the capital's theaters. The rumors became an occasion to express gratitude to the audience, who were called the "most important part" of the same team with the troupe and staff.

The press service of the Gogol Center confirmed that the contracts of Agranovich and Kabeshev really expire on July 4, 2022. Why the big bosses have not yet bothered to inform the theater about further plans for the management is a separate question that caused indignation among some users on the social network.

The theater reported that in the 2021 "coronavirus" year it fully recouped the 146 million rubles allocated by the state, earning a similar amount.

The first half of 2022 has already brought 162 million rubles to the treasury of the theater center, which is 8 million more than the amount of funds allocated from the state budget.

Recall that the current artistic director of the theater Alexey Agranovich began working at his post from February 2021, replacing the founder and head of the theater center Kirill Serebrennikov. During this period, 7 premiere performances were released, including the play by Agranovich himself ("I do not participate in the war").

Whether the metropolitan authorities will liquidate a successfully operating cultural institution is a separate question. Now representatives of the theatrical community doubt that the Gogol Center will repeat the fate of the Moscow drama theater, on the basis of which it arose in 2012-2013 after the reconstruction and repair of the building. But the officials have not yet said their word.