Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0001971, Fri, 4 Apr 1997 15:22:52 -0800

Subject
Lolita, the play
Date
Body
From S. Il'in:

[How they tried to ban Lolita, the play, in Volgograd's Theater for Young
Spectators. When the ban did not succeed, several groups organized
demonstrations in front of the theater telling people Lolita should be
banned. Militia had to get involved. It all backfired: all performances
have been sold out.]

*I may sound "square" -- and maybe it's the mother in me talking -- but
may be, just may be, The Theater for Young Spectators is really not the
best venue for LOLITA? I am not at all sure I would have taken my 8 and
12-year olds to the play if such was available at the Seattle
Children's Theater, for example...GD*

Gazeta ~Moskovskij Komsomoletz~, 4.04.97

~LOLITU~ PYTALIS' ZAPRETIT',
no ne smogli. Odin iz volgogradskikh vecherov vmesto tikhogo i
kul'turnogo stal gromkim, skandal'nym, s privlecheniem sil militzii.

~Dopolnitel'nye sily MVD byli lisheny zakonnogo vechernego otdykha i
otpravleny k
mestnomu Teatru junogo zritelja. O tom, kak vedut sebja sovremennye
detishki v teatrakh, mozhno pesni slagat'. No na aetot raz prichinoj
otzeplenija posluzhili ne junosheskie zabavy, a vzrosloe bujstvo. Za
chas do prem'ery nabokovskoj ~Lolity~ u teatral'nogo pod`ezda
pojavilas' kucha narodu s plakatami i megafonami. Kucha okazalas'
ves'ma organizovannoj. Vse uchastniki aktzii - chleny organizatzii
~Russkaja obshchina~, kotorye vmeste s deputatami-kommunistami vsju
nedelju do prem'ery pytalis' dobit'sja zapreta na spektakl'. Po ikh
mneniju, stzenicheskoe obrashchenie k ~Lolite~, ravno kak i samo
proizvedenie, amoral'no, neprilichno i rastlevaet molodezh'. Tem ne
menee, spektakl' ne zapretili, prem'eru blagodarja doblestnoj
volgogradskoj militzii sorvat' ne udalos', a zriteli vopreki vsemu
prishli v krajnij vostorg.
Aktzija moralistov privela k prjamo protivopolozhnomu rezul'tatu:
bilety
na vse blizhajshie spektakli raskupleny na kornju.~