A monument honoring Yuri Lyubimov, the People’s Artist of Russia, founder and former artistic director of the Taganka Theater, will be erected near the theater building. This news was reported by TASS, citing the theater’s director, Irina Apeksimova.
The sculpture will be displayed at the cultural institution to celebrate the Taganka Theater’s 60th anniversary.
“We are very pleased that the founder’s memory will be commemorated. To mark the anniversary, a monument to Yuri Lyubimov will stand at the main entrance. People of his stature deserve lasting recognition so that future generations remember their contributions to art,” Apeksimova remarked, adding that the monument should have appeared at this site long ago.
The unveiling is planned for the fall. Sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov, also a People’s Artist of Russia, is crafting the statue. The initiative came from Lyubimov’s widow, Katalina Lyubimova, along with leaders from Moscow and St. Petersburg theaters who supported the project.
Taganka Drama and Comedy Theater in Moscow was founded on April 23, 1964 by graduates of the Boris Shchukin Theater School. Their graduation performance, “The Good Man from Szechwan,” was directed by Yuri Lyubimov, who led the theater as chief director. Notable cast members included Vladimir Vysotsky, Valery Zolotukhin, Alla Demidova, Leonid Filatov, Ivan Bortnik, and others. In 1989, a split occurred within the troupe, leading to the formation of the Taganka Actors’ Ensemble by a faction that broke away.
Lyubimov passed away in 2014, and in 2021 the Taganka Theater and the Taganka Actors Ensemble resumed collaboration as a unified company.
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