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GEORGIA SACKS THEATRE LEGEND FOR 'XENOPHOBIA'
Agence France Presse
Aug 17, 2011
TBILISI - Georgia's culture minister controversially sacked its best
known theatre director Robert Sturua as head of the national theatre
for "xenophobic" comments he made earlier this year, officials said
Wednesday.
Culture Minister Nika Rurua ordered that "Robert Sturua be relieved
from his post as artistic director of the Shota Rustaveli National
Theatre" according to a ministerial decree that Sturua posted on his
Facebook page.
Sturua is known as an outspoken critic of Georgia's pro-Western
President Mikheil Saakashvili and his dismissal prompted many to claim
that the director was being punished for his anti-government views.
But Rurua said he was forced to fire the director after he made
"xenophobic" statements.
"We are not going to finance xenophobia. Georgia is a multicultural
country," Rurua said in a televised comment.
Provoking public outrage, Sturua said in a May 20 interview with local
Sakinformi news agency that "Saakashvili doesn't know what Georgian
people need because he is Armenian."
"I do not want Georgia to be governed by a representative of a
different ethnicity," he said.
Both Saakashvili's parents are Georgians.
Strura was not available for further comment on Wednesday to explain
the circumstances of his departure.
"I am having a feast, sleeping, eating fruits. I am freed, I am
free," Sturua wrote on his Facebook wall, as fans and friends posted
expressions of sympathy.
Sturua, 73, won international acclaim for his original interpretation
of plays by Brecht, Shakespeare and Chekhov, as well as Georgian
classics.
He is one of the best known of all theatre directors from the
ex-Soviet Union in the West, where his stunningly visual productions
have astonished audiences.
His 1992 version of "Hamlet" at London's Riverside Studios starring
Alan Rickman has long been part of theatrical legend.
The construction of the Rustaveli Theatre's Baroque and Renaissance
building was funded by Armenian philanthropist Alexander Mantashev
in 1901. It is the largest and most famous stage in the country with
rich theatrical traditions.
From: A. Papazian
Agence France Presse
Aug 17, 2011
TBILISI - Georgia's culture minister controversially sacked its best
known theatre director Robert Sturua as head of the national theatre
for "xenophobic" comments he made earlier this year, officials said
Wednesday.
Culture Minister Nika Rurua ordered that "Robert Sturua be relieved
from his post as artistic director of the Shota Rustaveli National
Theatre" according to a ministerial decree that Sturua posted on his
Facebook page.
Sturua is known as an outspoken critic of Georgia's pro-Western
President Mikheil Saakashvili and his dismissal prompted many to claim
that the director was being punished for his anti-government views.
But Rurua said he was forced to fire the director after he made
"xenophobic" statements.
"We are not going to finance xenophobia. Georgia is a multicultural
country," Rurua said in a televised comment.
Provoking public outrage, Sturua said in a May 20 interview with local
Sakinformi news agency that "Saakashvili doesn't know what Georgian
people need because he is Armenian."
"I do not want Georgia to be governed by a representative of a
different ethnicity," he said.
Both Saakashvili's parents are Georgians.
Strura was not available for further comment on Wednesday to explain
the circumstances of his departure.
"I am having a feast, sleeping, eating fruits. I am freed, I am
free," Sturua wrote on his Facebook wall, as fans and friends posted
expressions of sympathy.
Sturua, 73, won international acclaim for his original interpretation
of plays by Brecht, Shakespeare and Chekhov, as well as Georgian
classics.
He is one of the best known of all theatre directors from the
ex-Soviet Union in the West, where his stunningly visual productions
have astonished audiences.
His 1992 version of "Hamlet" at London's Riverside Studios starring
Alan Rickman has long been part of theatrical legend.
The construction of the Rustaveli Theatre's Baroque and Renaissance
building was funded by Armenian philanthropist Alexander Mantashev
in 1901. It is the largest and most famous stage in the country with
rich theatrical traditions.
From: A. Papazian