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Dear all, I am forwarding this message from the theatre critic John Freedman: John Freedman <[log in to unmask]> Please reply to him, not to me! All the best, Robert Chandler Friends, this is a matter of utmost importance. The small but mighty Teatr.doc in Moscow is being faced with eviction and, possibly, extinction. It is important to show support for it as quickly as possible. I urge you to give me permission to attach your name, profession and city (Jane Game, director, Yazoo CA) to this open letter. If you know anyone who would want to sign this letter, please share and provide my email address for them to respond to. An Open Letter in Defense of Teatr.doc: We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the situation that has arisen around Teatr.doc. We fear what we and Moscow theater both stand to lose if Teatr.doc is forced to leave its famous basement space on Tryokhprudny Pereulok. Teatr.doc is a bellwether of contemporary Russian drama and theater. Don't be fooled by Teatr.doc's small size. It does great things that affect the entire world. Anyone traveling to Moscow in the last decade in search of new ideas, new forms, new writers, new directors, new acting styles, new spectators, and even new marketing approaches or ways of working with the public, has invariably ended up in the tiny, but mighty black basement room where theatrical magic is done on a routine basis. Russian artists emerging from Teatr.doc have spread their own personal fame, as well as that of the theater, all over the world, be it with highly successful tours of Teatr.doc's productions in Europe, be it in plays developed at Teatr.doc but staged in world premieres in Europe, England or the UnitedStates, or be it in projects that have been conceived and developed jointly in Moscow and abroad. We know Teatr.doc not only as the home of the famous "new drama," which has deeply influenced theaters and writers all over the world, but as the warm and loving home where "new drama" was born and bred. Teatr.doc is a tiny space, just a few rooms in a Moscow apartment building. But its influence on, and importance for, world theater is already the stuff of legend. We urge all parties concerned to do whatever possible and whatever necessary to preserve this important cultural institution. Teatr.doc is one of the great riches of Russian culture today. It must be preserved.