Bolshoi is cleared of stage death: it was the victim’s fault
NewsAn investigation into the death of actor Yevgeny Kulesh during a performance of Nikolai-Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sadko has concluded that the theatre was not at fault.
It decided that Kulesh, 37, was drunk and therefore responsible for being in the wrong place when the scenery fell.
Kulesh’s mother left the hearing, saying she had received threatening phone calls.
More here.
Kulesh is 3rd from right in the picture
Translation of the press report.-
Commission of Inquiry Identifies Actor as Guilty of Fatal Accident
EDITORS, 23.12.2021 15:44
Yevgeny Kulesh, an actor at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow who died at the premiere of Korsakov’s opera Sadko on October 9, 2021, after being hit by a triggering backdrop, was reportedly drunk. This conclusion was reached by a special commission of inquiry. Although it acknowledged that the accident occurred during the performance of work duties, it was due to “alcohol intoxication”. The deceased is therefore to blame for the accident himself.
Some time ago, we reported on the tragic death at the October premiere of the opera Sadko at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. According to lawyer Andrei Alyoshkin, hired by Svetlana Kuleshova, the mother of the tragically deceased Yevgeny Kulesh, it is strange that no one – not even his colleagues – noticed the symptoms of alcohol intoxication (with the degree of intoxication that we are talking about a clear violation of coordination and balance, or problems with expression). The commission also did not answer the question of where and how the actor could consume alcohol when he did not leave the theater building.
According to Alyoshkin, the commission is set up in such a way that two of its members investigate themselves and decide on their own offenses, which he considers a clear conflict of interest, therefore calling into question the conclusions of this investigative commission. Upon receipt of the official results of the investigation, he intends to appeal. Kuleš’s mother was shocked by the commission’s decision and left the meeting before the conclusion was announced.
Andrei Alyoshkin had previously pointed out the irregularities in the investigation and the theatre’s attempt to manipulate the whole incident so that Kulesh himself looked like the culprit of the accident. According to the lawyer, the circumstances suggest that the technical supervisor was not at his workplace or was busy with something else.
The Grand Theatre promised to cover all the costs of Yevgeny Kulesh’s funeral, but it soon became clear that it had paid only for the coffin and the bus to the cemetery. Everything else Svetlana Kulešova had to pay for herself. Only after the insistence of the lawyer did the theatre pay for the remaining confirmed funeral costs.
Yevgeny’s mother, according to her lawyer, was also threatened by unknown persons by phone during the investigation. They tried to persuade her to stop caring about the cause of her son’s death.
After the actor’s death, the situation in the Bolshoi Theatre remains tense. Several actors decided to speak to reporters, but on condition of anonymity. The management of the theater officially forbade them to talk to the media, the publication of internal problems means immediate dismissal. At the last farewell to Yevgeny Kulesh, the actor was allegedly reminded by the deputy general director of the theater not to talk to journalists about anything. Also, the media did not have access to the funeral ceremony itself – the theatre management expelled them.
According to the actors, little has changed in terms of safety – heavy sets still threaten the lives of the performers. The employees of the Bolshoi Theatre demand a review of the safety and the remaining decorations through the trade union, but the theatre management is lax about the situation. As one of the statisticians pointed out, if the scenery in the Fairy Tale of Tsar Saltán falls, there will be a mass grave from the stage.
thank you. NL
In Russia if you’re drunk and you were shot by a killer – it’s your fault.
In Russia if you cross the crosswalk with green lights on and a mad man smashes you with his car running 200 mph – if you were drunk ———> you’re guilty of your death
According to the photo caption in the article itself, the deceased is third from the left.
Indeed.just by clicking on the original story and letting google translate the page, the accurate information is that he is third from left. But, why verify?
Surprised that Putin didn’t declare it an action by a Ukrainian operative that must now be avenged.
Bozhe moy. I’m glad we speedily solved that riddle. Handy verdict: It’s the victim’s fault. And we shut up mom with threats to her life. Great system.
The verdict is plausible. The alcohol mortality statistic in Russia is in the tens of thousands annually. If you add alcohol-related deaths, i.e., deaths resulting from impaired judgment instead of alcohol disease, the number of deaths is in the hundreds of thousands yearly. This is, unfortunately, a culturally related issue that cannot be mitigated by a justice system until the culture changes.
“a culturally related issue…until the culture changes”
Depends on how deep the cultural question goes.
If one is drinking because life is miserable living in Russia in general and living under Putin in particular, then I’m afraid the only cultural change possible is to emigrate to the West or wait for the Evil Empire to collapse on itself, like the good old Soviet days.
“If one is drinking because life is miserable living in Russia…..” etc
Sounds like you studied cause and effect and human psychology from the back of a cereal packet.
I get what has been said about blame being shifted to drunk people, unjust thought it is (e.g. the speeding car example). But how is it this poor actor’s fault that the scenery fell?