Take off that gloomy mask of tragedy, it's not your style

My Russian Theatre and Politics class went downtown last night to the Hyatt hotel near the World Trade Center, where the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, spoke briefly about Russian-American relations. It didn't remotely have to do with theatre, but it gave us some perspective into foreign policy, and how current economic and political conditions in Russia can affect the types of artwork produced there and consequently those we may see here in the near future.

I won't bore you with gritty details, but essentially he indicated that Russia is a young nation that is still learning how to embrace its independence and govern itself. He himself does not agree with certain ways the United States has handled certain instances in the past, or with the ways in which the American media has portrayed Russian political action, namely recent conflicts with Georgia, which struck a particular chord in me as a Mass Communication major. But he does acknowledge that Russia has also had considerable failures. He also says relations are improving and he is optimistic that we will come to terms on several issues such as gas prices and our relations within NATO.

(Update: Today (March 5th), NATO resumes ties with Russia! Thanks, Twitter!)

Overall I'd say he's quite optimistic about the future of Russian-American relations, and when it comes down to it, even the fact that we were permitted to have this class to examine new Russian drama (which is still not universally accepted in Russia) and function as intellectuals in this fascinating new element of their culture is still mind-blowing to me. Hopefully these improving relations will allow for improved support of the evolving arts in Russia so that we may enjoy them here.

Here's the class with the Ambassador, courtesy of Dr. Robyn Quick.


And here's Dr. McCartney approaching him, also courtesy of Robyn.


As always, I am your Drama Queen.