The “Big Tour” took place in Crimea, dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the reunification of Crimea and Sevastopol with Russia

In the spring of 2024, our country celebrates the tenth anniversary of the reunification of Crimea and Sevastopol with Russia.

As part of the celebration, “Grand Tours” of two leading theaters of the country took place, which were organized by the Federal State Budgetary Institution ROSCONCERT in accordance with the All-Russian Tour and Concert Plan of the Ministry of Culture of Russia. Performances that have already become legendary were presented on the peninsula’s stages: Nikita Mikhalkov’s “12” and the Maly Theater’s production of the Yalta Conference. These are stories of conscious choice, important both for each individual person and for future generations.

A bright start to the anniversary celebration was the performance of the Theater and Cinema Center under the direction of Nikita Mikhalkov in Kerch, Simferopol and Sevastopol, which took place from March 12 to 21, 2024. As part of the “Leading Theatres” direction, there were off-site screenings of two performances – “12” and “Happy New Year to You…”.

“I am sure that we were obliged to bring our play “12” here to Crimea. The energy and atmosphere of Crimea are very powerfully manifested in the audience’s reaction to our performance. And it’s not about the applause, but about the silence, about how people listen and perceive everything that happens on stage,” said Nikita Mikhalkov, artistic director of the Theater and Cinema Center.

In 2024, Crimeans celebrate not only the first big anniversary of reunification with Russia, but also 80 years since the liberation of the peninsula from the Nazis in April-May 1944. Less than a year after this, in February 1945, an event occurred here that is discussed in the production of the State Academic Maly Theater – the Yalta Conference, which determined the contours of the post-war world order. One of the main theaters in the country showed the play “The Big Three (Yalta-45)” to the audience on the stage of the Sevastopol Academic Russian Drama Theater named after A.V. Lunacharsky on April 24, 2024.

“We are pleased to bring the Big Three to Crimea. It seems to me that this performance will be received especially sensitively here. This performance is not a reconstruction of historical events, but an artistic statement and an attempt to recreate the picture of those difficult days,” – chief director of the Maly Theater Alexey Dubrovsky.

The play, based on the play by Swedish playwright Lukas Svensson, tells the story of the events of the iconic meeting and offers an inside look at the characters, their lives, preferences, actions and motivations. The inspiration for the directors was the historical texture found by the author of the play in the archives.

The Maly Theater’s tour to Sevastopol is an important event. Artistic director of the Theatre. A.V. Lunacharsky Grigory Lifanov said: “It’s interesting that the first theater that came under the “Big Tour” program after the return of Sevastopol and Crimea to Russia was Maly, so the visit of this theater has already become a good tradition. In addition, even earlier, in March, viewers of the peninsula were able to see the play “12” by Nikita Mikhalkov’s troupe. Without the support of ROSCONCERT and the Russian Ministry of Culture, such tours are impossible, because these are expensive projects, especially for the regions. When such powerful events are celebrated precisely by the arrival of theaters, it is worth a lot, because the theater is a place where human emotion is born here and now.”

Today, cultural communication between the peninsula and other regions of Russia is built in the form of live communication. In 2024, within the framework of the All-Russian tour and concert plan of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, several more projects are planned that will give bright emotions to the audience of this hospitable region.