Elena Gremina

Elena Anatolievna Gremina
Elena Gremina in 2015
Native name Елена Анатольевна Гремина
Born Elena Anatolievna Grebnav
(1956-11-20)20 November 1956
Moscow, Soviet Union
Died 16 May 2018(2018-05-16) (aged 61)
Moscow, Russia
Occupation Writer, playwright
Language Russian
Residence Moscow, Russia
Nationality Russian
Alma mater Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
Years active 1983–2018
Spouse Mikhail Ugarov 1993–2018
Relatives Anatoly Grebnev (father)
Galina Mindadze (mother)

Elena Anatolievna Gremina (20 November 1956 – 16 May 2018) was a Russian writer and playwright who was one of the founders of the factual theatre Teatr.doc.

Early life

Elena Grebnav was born on 20 November 1956 in Moscow, Soviet Union, to Georgian translator Galina Mindadze and playwright Anatoly Grebnev. At an early age, Elena would write protests in verse, such as an early piece about children being prevented from seeing a film. She later adopted the surname Gremina, a combination of her parent's surnames so as to be able to write without being compared to her them. Gremina studied at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute to become a playwright.[1]

Career

Grebnav's first production took place in 1983, but only came to prominence in the 1990s after her plays were performed at the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre and she won awards from Westdeutscher Rundfunk. A favoured subject matter of Grebnav in this period was conflicted women of history. Grebnav married Mikhail Ugarov in 1993. Together with her husband and father, she created the television series, St. Petersburg Secrets.[1]

After being influenced by Elyse Dodgson at the Royal Court Theatre, London, Gremina and her husband founded Teatr.doc. When they heard Dodgson talk about the use of verbatim techniques in theatre to present factual stories on the stage, they decided that it was a way to reconnect Russian theatre with the public in their home country.[1] The duo started Teatr.doc in 2002, and soon began to present performances based on current events.[2]

The performances became more political in nature, which resulted in Gremina and her husband being visited by the police and having equipment confiscated.[1] One such piece written by Gremina was on the death of Sergei Magnitsky, an anticorruption lawyer.[3] After a police raid of Teatr.doc in 2015 that saw three members of the production temporarily arrested and sets destroyed, Gremina was summoned to the Ministry of Culture where she was threatened with further raids.[4]

Ugarov died following a heart attack in April 2018.[3] Gremina died six weeks later, also from a heart attack.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Dugdale, Sasha (24 May 2018). "Elena Gremina obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  2. ↑ Senelick, Lawrence (2015). Historical Dictionary of Russian Theatre. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 464. ISBN 978-1-44224-927-1.
  3. 1 2 "Russian playwright found dead after making play about anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky". National Post. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  4. ↑ Ruble, Blair A. (1 September 2015). "Putin's Punitive Theatre of the Absurd". Newsweek. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
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