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- Supermasters: more than two dozen theaters turned out to be under the leadership of ten people
Supermasters: more than two dozen theaters turned out to be under the leadership of ten people
In recent years, there has been a tendency in the theatrical environment to concentrate powers: artistic directors are given control of several stages at once. As a result, to date, more than two dozen of the country's leading theaters have been managed by only ten people. In 2023, Valery Gergiev, who was already the head of the Mariinsky Theatre, was appointed general director of the Bolshoi Theatre. Vladimir Mashkov, being the artistic director of the Oleg Tabakov Theater since 2018, became the head of Sovremennik in 2024. Sergei Bezrukov, the head of the Provincial Theater, has assumed responsibility for the Gorky Moscow Art Theater since March 2026. Izvestia figured out what double loads lead to.
The trend towards centralization
Managing several theaters turns famous directors and actors into large-scale cultural managers, who bear not only a creative but also a significant administrative burden. Experts and observers see several meanings in this trend at once. On the one hand, the concentration of authority may indicate a high level of trust in individual managers — the state and the theater community rely on recognized authorities who are able to set the vector of development for several venues at once. On the other hand, such "multi-organization" is often interpreted as a consequence of the shortage of managerial personnel in the Russian theater: in conditions of a limited pool of specialists, it is logical to assign responsibility for large institutions to those who have already proven their effectiveness.
Valery Gergiev
At the same time, the very model of combining leadership causes ambiguous assessments in the professional environment. Critics fear that excessive workload may lead to formalization of managerial work and a decrease in attention to the nuances of the creative life of each individual troupe. Supporters believe that a strong artistic leader is able to convey a single aesthetic line and ensure the continuity of traditions even at several venues at the same time.
Top Ten leaders
Valery Gergiev is a theatrical superman. Since 1996, he has been masterfully managing the Mariinsky Theatre, and since December 2023, he has also taken the Bolshoi under his wing. At the same time, both cultural giants remain completely independent, and the maestro manages to be equally attentive to each of them. During the season, the GABT produced dozens of premieres, in which both troupes are engaged, and the Mariinsky regularly brings its productions to Moscow.
Vladimir Mashkov
Vladimir Mashkov demonstrates a different approach to multitasking. Having led the Oleg Tabakov Theater since 2018, in June 2024 he added the directorship of the legendary Sovremennik to his duties. Theaters retain their own style. TOTH is finishing the renovation of the stages, but in the meantime, the artists are playing their performances in Sovremennik.
Sergei Bezrukov has been the head of the Moscow Provincial Theater since 2014, and since March 2026 he has assumed responsibility for the Gorky Moscow Art Theater. Now he is in charge of the complex process of merging two great troupes, where each retains its uniqueness. This decision was planned in advance. In June 2024, Gubernsky changed its founder and became a federal theater. Unification is possible only with the same subordination.
Sergey Bezrukov
Evgeny Gerasimov went through an interesting path of a theatrical reformer. At first, he headed the Malaya Ordynka Theater, and then took the Satire Theater under his wing. Interestingly, by that time, the Satire Theater had already gone through one merger — in 2021, the Armen Dzhigarkhanyan Progress Stage was added to it. Now the theater has four stages: the main one on Triumfalnaya Square, the Small one (The Attic of Satire), the Progress Stage and the playground.
Irina Apeksimova, having started with the management of the Taganka Theater, took custody of the Taganka Actors' Association in 2020. After 30 years of separation, these groups have become one again. Later, they were joined by "ApARTe", becoming a Stage on the Torch and a platform for experiments. This expanded the creative possibilities of the theater.
Evgeny Marcelli is the artistic director of the Mossovet Theater. In 2022, the BRIDGE Theater joined it. He retained his leadership and continued his own path, although he became related to the Mossovet Theater.
Eugene Marcelli
Vladimir Pankov successfully balances between two projects — Mark Zakharov's Lenkom and the Center for Drama and Directing (CDR), developing each in its own way.
Konstantin Bogomolov has created a unique theater cluster. Since 2019, he has been running the Theater on Bronnaya, and in 2024, he added the former Roman Viktyuk Theater to it, which received a new name — the Melnikov Stage Theater.
Not all mergers have been successful. The history of the Meyerhold Center and the School of Dramatic Art has become an example of how hasty decisions can destroy a unique creative organism. After the change of leadership in the CIM in 2022, the Department of Culture decided to merge. Olga Sokolova, director of the SDI, became the head of the new structure. This led to mass layoffs and protests in the theater community. As a result, in 2024, the CIM site was transferred to the Shalom Theater.
Konstantin Bogomolov
The Sphere Theater and the Hermitage are another example of an ambiguous merger. Mikhail Levitin, who headed the Hermitage since 1990, became the head of both sites after the merger. The Sphere team actively resisted, fearing the loss of their unique aesthetics. Despite the fact that Alexander Korshunov retained the post of chief director in order to preserve the traditions of the founding mother Ekaterina Yelanskaya. The merger caused a storm of protests and petitions.
Who needs optimization and why
As the former head of one of the theaters told Izvestia, one of the reasons for the associations is the reduction in the number of budget institutions. This task is faced not only by culture, but also by other industries. Therefore, the stages are combined on a territorial basis, as happened with the Hermitage and Sphere theaters, as well as with the Taganka Theater, the Taganka Actors' Community Theater and the author's Apartment.
— Optimization has been talked about for a long time, and it has affected the regions. It is important for managers to report that there are fewer theaters in the city," one of the managers shared. — When reorganizing, merging or liquidating theatrical institutions, officials are guided by the right of the owner (founder) to manage the property. They are supported by federal laws, industry standards, and codes of the Russian Federation. In the theatrical environment, managers who manage several institutions are called "multitankers."
Irina Apeksimova
At the same time, there is no material benefit in uniting the teams, says Dmitry Rodionov, editor-in-chief of the Stage magazine. The amount of funding remains the same. But there are new questions.
— This is an illusion that unification will lead to budget savings, — the expert noted. — Any changes in the theater are followed by personnel problems.: how to employ former managers, where to place new employees. I see this as the task of the authorities in the field of culture.
Plus, due to the heavy workload, artistic directors do not appear in their theaters every day, Izvestia's interlocutors from some united troupes say. Their appearance becomes a long-awaited event.
"If you don't catch basic issues, you don't solve them quickly, you have to wait for weeks," said an actress from one of the capital's theaters. — Those who are more experienced and more daring delegate authority to subordinates. But there are teams where the head closes the solution of all issues on himself.
Young is not green
Theater is a matter for the young. This is a generally accepted fact. Mark Zakharov received Lenkom at the age of 40, Galina Volchek became the head of Sovremennik at 39, Oleg Tabakov became the director of this theater at 35, and Vladimir Urin, the former general director of the Bolshoi Theater, began working in a senior position at the Kirov Youth Theater at the age of 26. Among the recent appointments, the case of Dmitry Bikbaev stands out, who at 37 headed the Pokrovka Theater. A unique example was Maxim Sevagin, who at the age of 24 became the artistic director of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater Ballet Troupe.
Oleg Tabakov
At the same time, it is more difficult for young specialists to get leadership positions today. Professor Dmitry Rodionov notes: young cadres make their way on their own. Aspiring directors strive to succeed and achieve recognition.
— At the moment, the authorities in the field of culture are not able to effectively educate and raise staff in order to form a reserve of leaders. Officials should visit theaters, watch performances, and communicate with cultural figures in order to have practical experience. Such decisions require courage and the ability to take responsibility," says Professor Dmitry Rodionov.
Thus, the current concentration of several theaters in the hands of some managers is associated not only with personnel decisions, but also with the lack of a stable system for training new managers. The situation in which more than two dozen of the country's leading theaters have been managed by ten people reflects an important structural shift in the theater management system. The industry is facing questions about the balance between centralized control and creative autonomy, the effectiveness of a "multitasking" artistic director, and the future of the theatrical landscape.
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