Theater chief not allowed back to Russia is welcome again
He had been denied entry into Russia for reasons of an administrative violation
MOSCOW, February 03. /ITAR-TASS/. Chief Artistic director of Moscow Mayakovsky Theater Mindaugas Karbauskis, who was denied entry into Russia at Moscow Vnukovo airport on Saturday, felt depressed after the shock he suffered. Nonetheless, he is going to book a ticket on a flight to Moscow and return to Moscow in the next few days, he said on Monday.
He said he had to fly back to Vilnius on Sunday, February 2, after he had spent 15 hours at a passport control zone at Moscow Vnukovo airport. He was not allowed into the airport rest zone; the airport personnel treated him politely, but were cool, the theater director said.
Karbauskis is depressed, he said. “I am in low spirits because of the stress. I am grateful to all for their support. I am not accustomed to be in the limelight, it is not in my character,” he said. Karbauskis also said he was upset to hear the news about the sudden death of Philip Seymour Hoffman — a popular American actor.
The Mayakovsky Theater is going to present a first night of “Kant” — a play staged by Karbauskis, on Monday night, which he will miss, of course. “The play has been well rehearsed. I am sure the actors will manage without me,” Karbauskis said. He explained he had been denied entry into Russia for reasons of an administrative violation, which might have been anything — crossing a motorway with the red light on or smoking in an unauthorized place, he said. Karbauskis admitted that he had once been fined 300 rubles in Russia, which is a considered a too big offense for a foreigner. He underlined he had been to the Russian Federal Migration Service this year, which has no claims on him.
Karbauskis said in his Facebook page that upon arrival at Moscow airport he was told that he had been denied entry to Russia until November 13, 2015. After the managers of the Mayakovsky theater had applied to FMS Chief Konstantin Romadanovsky and gave him their guarantees the Mayakovsky theater chief artistic director was allowed to return to Russia.
Mindaugas Karbauskis is a citizen of Lithuania, but he lives and works in Moscow. He is a graduate of the Russian Academy of Theater Arts (RATI). He is well known in Russia as a laureate of numerous awards awarded to him at prestigious theater festivals.