Woolly Mammoth Cancels Festival of Radical New Theatre from Moscow in Wake of Political Tensions

Stage Directions: The heightened tension between Russia and the U.S. has reached the theatre. The Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has had to cancel their Russian artistic exchange program The Russians are Coming! A Festival of Radical New Theatre from Moscow because the instability in Russia and heightened tensions with the U.S. over the invasion on the Crimean Peninsula has led to a freezing of funds that was to pay for the event. The press release from Woolly Mammoth is heartbreaking with its quotes of how quickly planning and funding for the show changed, Center for International Theatre Development founder and director Philip Arnoult just returned saying “I’m seeing a cultural war being fought against the background of the larger Ukrainian stories. Our artistic partners, as well as organizers in the country, are both stunned and saddened at how quickly the cultural climate has changed.” Woolly Mammoth has not yet announced what program will take place instead of this event on its calendar.