MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/. Censorship in creative arts is unacceptable, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, commenting on the situation around fired Director of the Novosibirsk State Theater of Opera and Ballet Boris Mezdrich.
However, the state has the right to expect appropriate performances financed from budget funds, Peskov added.
"It was said more than once that the state provides funds through budget subsidies, various grants, for cinema productions, staging performances in theaters," the spokesman recalled. "Of course, the state has the right to expect appropriate performances from creative teams — at least, [performances] that do not trigger such an acute reaction from the general public," he noted. "Along with that, it should not be interpreted as attempts to impose any type of censorship," he stressed. "Censorship in creative arts is unacceptable," Peskov added.
Commenting on the situation around the fired director of the Novosibirsk theater, the spokesman said the measure was not connected with the Tannhauser production. "I want to urge to read attentively the decree of the minister of culture," Peskov said. "The former director of the theater was fired not for the [Tannhauser] production, but for something like ‘insubordination’. As he [Mezdrich] was appointed by the Ministry of Culture, at the federal level, he has to comply with subordination rules," the spokesman stressed. "But this does not mean censorship in any way," he concluded.