Volgograd advertises shows with ousted founder
Residents of Volgograd are being invited to performances by the controversially ousted founder of the Theater of One Actor (Teatr odnogo aktera, Theater of One Actor). A poster of productions featuring Zinaida Gurova has been published for October and November. Yet the actress herself insists she is hearing about this for the first time, as the theater’s management has parted ways with her.
Recall that the scandal over Zinaida Gurova’s dismissal erupted in late May this year. At the time, the actress told V1.RU she had been given a humiliating condition under which she could remain at the theater, but she refused. A few months later, Zinaida Gurova was reinstated to her post by a court; however, the actress insisted she was still being pushed out of the theater — in mid-September she was brought documents terminating her employment for signature.
The director of the Volgograd Children’s Philharmonic (Volgogradskaya detskaya filarmoniya, Volgograd Children’s Philharmonic), which oversees the Theater of One Actor, told V1.RU that the first time Zinaida Gurova left of her own accord, and the second time they had to dismiss her. According to Tatyana Mironova, the saga with Zinaida Gurova led her to suffer a heart attack.
«Zinaida Gurova does not justify herself as an actress. Several million are invested in her, 6 million a year, yet we cannot sell tickets for her — we couldn’t sell more than 10 tickets to her performances. Then there’s age… When someone plays a 25-year-old girl on stage while she is 80, you can imagine how that looks to the audience. She forgets lines, tries to sing, her voice gives out — the audience tells us all this,» says Tatyana Mironova. «Over the years she has written several hundred letters against us to every government body and sues us endlessly. It is impossible to talk with her; she cannot communicate normally. It is as if her humanity has vanished and only an actress with grandeur remains…»
However, V1.RU readers report that the Theater of One Actor’s website has published a poster of performances with Zinaida Gurova. Thus, on 4 October audiences are to be shown Gurova’s literary–musical composition based on poems by Marina Tsvetaeva. In addition, if the schedule is to be believed, the artist appears on stage on 11, 18 and 26 October.
Zinaida Gurova herself told V1.RU that she was hearing about this poster for the first time.
«They fired me but claim I resigned on my own. They stole everything from my metal locker: documents, the theater’s archive, plays, programs, books on diction. Students and various guest artists from other theaters walk around the theater. And all these years they never allowed me to form a studio, let alone invite actors… I was in a correctional colony named after Mironova,» the actress says. «They do not give me the opportunity to rehearse. They stripped me of my acting duties. What poster? Where? I don’t understand. They did not accept my repertoire. The accountant told me I am off the staff. Their schedule has changed, there is no director. They settled with me. I asked: what is this connected with? They told me they hired another person on a full-time basis.»
Tatyana Mironova said that Zinaida Gurova no longer works at the theater.
«She has no position. The actress position is occupied. She was reinstated as director, but she is not on staff. The state does not allocate money for her,» she said.
V1.RU has asked the Committee of Culture to comment on why the poster lists performances featuring a dismissed actress.
