As Margus Allikmaa, chairman of the Russian Theater Council, confirmed in an interview with ERR, the main task now is to understand how the theater should develop in the changed circumstances. According to him, changing the name is a secondary issue.

"It was the first meeting that was not supposed to end with a specific result. It was a mapping of issues and a reflection on whether the Russian theater should somehow change or reformulate its goals in the current circumstances. The Ministry of Culture is in the process of formulating goals for all Estonian theatres, goals set by the owner, so to speak, and we tried to somehow identify the issues that could also concern the Russian Theatre," Allikmaa said.

"It must be said that things have changed a lot for the Russian theater since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression in Ukraine. If we are going to talk about changing the name, the key question is whether the theater itself should change in some way or not," the chair said.

"But let's face it, in a sense, the name defines the form. The easiest way to get your message across to the audience is through the name – or by changing it. But there are two dangers here: on the one hand, the name 'Russian Theater' poses a certain barrier for some of the Estonian-speaking audience – they say, 'I won't go to this Russian theater, no matter what's on.' On the other hand, if we change the name of the theater, some Russian-speaking audiences will say that this theater is no longer for us, but for someone else. So we have to analyze and think about all possible options," he explained.

According to Allikmaa, the Russian Theater in Tallinn, which exists at the expense of Estonian taxpayers, has certain obligations to preserve and develop local culture. "But if Russian dramaturgy, especially contemporary dramaturgy, has disappeared from the scene here, then something must come in its place. The theater must have its own clear identity and purpose," he emphasized.

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