What's Behind the Crackdown on Russian Theatres

People living in Moscow will probably remember 2017 as the year when the State went increasingly nostalgic. And not in a good way -- a nostalgic Kremlin means more interference in the artistic sphere. This is something Russia has not seen for many years: President Putin's early years were characterised by a certain degree of liberty in the cultural sphere -- as long as the artists stayed out of politics, they could do what they wanted. But not anymore. The State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, is championing the campaign against "Matilda" -- a film about Tsar Nicholas II's love affair with the prima ballerina Matilda Kshessinskaya. Bolshoi theatre is forced to cancel the ballet about the famously bisexual Rudolf Nureyev. And Kirill Serbrennikov, Russia's best-known, and one of the most provocative theatre directors, is currently facing prosecution for misuse of public funds.Alexander Baunov, an expert on Russian politics, sees this as a signifier of an internal struggle for the future of Russia. A sort of ugly contest among the Russian ruling class as to who will out-perform all others in being the most conservative and "patriotic". If this really is the case -- and it often feels like it is, since many experts agree that there is no master plan behind the current crackdown -- it says a lot about today's Russia.