XXVI Festival of Russian Theaters Encounters in Russia Opened in St. Petersburg

The XXVI Festival of Russian Theatres ”Encounters in Russia“ began on 3 April in St. Petersburg. This year it is dedicated to the 225^th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Pushkin. Groups from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took part in the festival.

”Encounters in Russia“ is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the St. Petersburg Committee for Culture, the Union of Theatre Workers of the Russian Federation and with the assistance of the IPA CIS.

The festival opened with the performance of ”The Captain's Daughter“ by the Azerbaijan State Academic Russian Drama Theatre. The romantic love story, set against the backdrop of the Pugachev Uprising, was created as part of the international project ”St. Petersburg Theatre Workshops“. The director is Igor Konyaev, winner of the State Prize of the Russian Federation. The production features both young actors and well-known stage masters.

The play was attended by Deputy Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council – Plenipotentiary Representative of the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic Aydin Jafarov,  deputy of the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic, member of the IPA CIS Budget Oversight Comission Igbal Mamedovand Advisor to the Model Law-Making Support Department, Secretary of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Culture, Information, Tourism and Sport Igor Minin.

The delegation from the Assembly thanked the management of the theater and representatives of the troupe, and met with the director of the Baltic House Festival Theater Sergei Shub.

The ”Encounters in Russia“ festival is a large-scale theatre forum that brings together Russian-speaking theatres from the CIS and other countries. This year it will take place for the 26^th time from 3 to 9 April.