Tallinn's Russian Theater to announce new name next week

The Russian Theater (Vene Teater) in Tallinn will announce its new name next week and it is expected to be Südalinna Teater.
On Thursday, the theater sent journalists an invitation to a press conference taking place on Tuesday, during which the theater's new name will be officially announced.
The council first discussed changing the Russian Theatre's name more than a year ago.
Last May, Margus Allikmaa, chairman of the Russian Theater Council, said both the venue's development and name were under discussion. He said changing the name was a secondary issue.
"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.
The Russian Theater opened in 1948 and was renamed the Russian Theater in 2005.
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Editor: Helen Wright