Russian director Serebrennikov in Hamburg after 4 years of travel ban

Acclaimed director Kirill Serebrennikov unexpectedly turned up at Hamburg's Thalia Theatre in recent days for rehearsals, shocking co-workers who thought he was still forbidden from leaving his native Russia.

He has been leading rehearsals of a production of Chekhov's "The Black Monk" at the Thalia, the theatre said.

"It's amazing" to be in Hamburg at the great Thalia theatre where lots of his friends work, Serebrennikov told dpa on Monday. "Hamburg is now a very important place for me."

The "artistic presence" in the city is also very important for him, he said.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic it has been very difficult to organize international projects. "In spite of all these terrible circumstances we have for now, we are trying to make the opening possible," he told dpa.

For four years, Serebrennikov has been under a strict travel ban and directed numerous productions by Zoom and video all over Europe.

He told dpa he had been given permission to leave the country to work in Hamburg right up to the opening of the play, after which he would have to return and report back to the authorities in Russia.

The director was arrested in summer 2017 and placed under house arrest. The prison sentence demanded by the prosecution for alleged embezzlement of funds was commuted at the trial in the summer of 2020 to a three-year suspended sentence - with a ban on his leaving Russia.

The case was decried as politically motivated and sent shockwaves throughout Russia's cultural community.

The sudden appearance in Hamburg is a considerable surprise, therefore.

According to a statement by the theatre, Serebrennikov said on his arrival at Hamburg airport on Saturday: "I am very, very happy and fortunate that Hamburg is the first European city where I am allowed to work again after four and a half years! Because it is also the last city I was in before. That feels very good!

"It's a good sign, and definitely not a coincidence!"

Thalia's artistic director Joachim Lux said: "I am very happy to welcome Kirill Serebrennikov to Hamburg. It is encouraging for the idea of freedom and an encouragement for art as well."

Rehearsals for the international production with Russian, German, US, Armenian and Latvian artists began on November 8 in Moscow and have taken place in Hamburg since January 4.

Chekhov's "The Black Monk" is "about madness, being or not being a genius," but it also contains very important thoughts on existence and "how to live, how to die, and so on. Everything we can find in the best samples of Russian literature," Serebrennikov said.

The premiere is scheduled for January 22.

After the premiere, Serebrennikov will apparently work on an international film back in Moscow.