Filmmaker Nadia Conners interviews Russian theater director Alexander Molochnikov about his life and work following his exile from Russia. Molochnikov left Russia after receiving death threats from the Wagner Group for supporting Ukraine. He discusses his career at the Moscow Art Theater and Bolshoi Theater, his award-winning ballet that won the Golden Mask award during the war, and his current production of *Seagull: True Story*, which parallels his own immigration to the U.S. The play, staged at LaMaMa in New York and now running at the Marylebone Theater in London, explores censorship and repression faced by a director fleeing Russia.
This conversation matters because it highlights the intersection of art and politics, showing how Russian artists face censorship and threats for opposing the war in Ukraine. Molochnikov's story underscores the isolation of Russian culture from the Western world and the personal costs of political dissent. The article also draws attention to the imprisonment of theater director Evgenia Berkovich, illustrating the broader crackdown on artistic freedom in Russia.