- Title: Stalin a hero in new Russian theatre drama
- Date: 1st March 2017
- Summary: ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF REHEARSAL OF PERFORMANCE UNDERWAY
- Embargoed: 15th March 2017 09:23
- Keywords: Russia Stalin theater Rostov-on-Don hero
- Location: ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA
- City: ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Theatre
- Reuters ID: LVA001664NKNT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A theatrical stage play in Russia's southern city of Rostov-on-Don aims to challenge perceptions of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin - hero or murdering dictator?
The play entitled 'Stalin. Watchmaker' premiered recently at the Rostov Academic Theatre. The play opens with the death of the central character and everything that happens after is Stalin's flickering unconscious mind reflecting on his life.
Director Aleksander Pudin says the stage play is a fresh chance to explain Stalin's actions to the viewing public.
"We give him, our hero... an opportunity to explain himself, justify himself, confess."
Actor Vyacheslav Ogir, who plays the leading role, said he admires Stalin.
"I want from the bottom of my heart for him to be understood at least somehow," the young actor said, adding he found it difficult to portray the "complex personality of his character."
Over six decades since Stalin's firm rule, his legacy remains the subject of bitter debate and broad interpretation in Russia, where some increasingly believe he did some good for the country.
The dictator ruled the Soviet Union for three-decades in which he is widely held responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people, many in the Gulag network of labour camps.
But support for Stalin has risen in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which gutted the social safety net, damaged national pride and left many Russians longing for the perceived order and stability of the Communist era.
Supporters of Stalin have accused critics of exaggerating the scale of the dictators crimes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin once referred to the demise of the Soviet Union as the "greatest geopolitical disaster of the last century", though he has also said Russia is not interested in reviving it.
But he has revived the Soviet anthem, Soviet-style military parades and a Soviet-era medal for labour, and critics say he uses Soviet-style tactics against dissent - a charge he denies.
This is not the first time the Rostov Academic Theatre dabbles with Soviet history as a theme, it has previously collaborated with playwright Vladimir Malyagin, who also wrote 'Stalin. Watchmaker' on a production of an epic Soviet novel entitled 'And Quiet Flows the Don'. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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