The Moscow Times Columns

Exile and Honor: Nikolai Erdman in Tomsk

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0400

What follows is a small example of how history and personal lives can intertwine over time in unexpected and significant ways. The personal side of this story is largely my own, but not entirely. It usually takes a lot of people coming together to make a story worth telling.

Playwright Yury Klavdiyev Plays Rock

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0400

Throughout March, playwright Yury Klavdiyev has been uploading to the Internet album after album of new musical compositions – three albums in three weeks. And those albums have been accompanied by several impressive videos.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Plays to a Russian Audience

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0300

American playwright Katori Hall's "The Mountaintop," a fictional depiction of the last hours of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life, has not yet made it to New York, but it was given a reading in Moscow on Friday.

A Rain of Satire on Russian Television

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0300

You rarely will hear me say anything nice about television. But I believe in paying credit where credit is due. So listen up while I change my usual tune, for a moment anyway. The Russian Dozhd, or Rain, television channel, which calls itself the "optimistic channel," is not, I repeat not, your average lumbering, format-bound, blindered television station.

Golden Mask Festival Showcases Riches of Polish Theater and New Drama

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0300

There are more theater festivals in this city than, as an old high school friend used to say, you can shake a stick at. And if you've ever tried to catch all the events these festivals offer, you probably feel as though the person shaking that stick has been whacking you over the head with it.

Sochi Olympics Makes the Circassian Genocide an International Issue, Analysts Say

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0300

Moscow's drive to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi has transformed the question of the recognition of the Circassian genocide from a narrowly local issue into an international one by attracting the attention of intellectuals around the world, according to a Circassian scholar.

Why Aren't Russians in Revolt?

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0300

The spread of political protests in the Middle East and increasing problems inside Russia, including corruption, income gaps and official arbitrariness, have prompted ever more analysts to ask why Russians aren't going into the streets more often.

Manezh Clashes Were Orchestrated

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0300

Though many social factors were behind the Manezh clashes last month, the action itself was orchestrated by political forces interested in destabilizing the country and exploiting "ethnic wars" in order to come to power, according to a leading Moscow psychologist.

Khloponin Considers Cossacks for North Caucasus

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0300

Alexander Khloponin, the North Caucasus special envoy, has said his "first task" should be to rely on a Cossack revival to return ethnic Russians to the region. But Cossacks have a troubled history there.

Chechnya Is More Violent Than Reported

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0400

Ivan Sydoruk, the deputy prosecutor general of the North Caucasus Federal District, told federal senators that "a large portion of weapons are obtained by militants from the stores of military units." His other comments raised equal alarm.