The past year 2008 did not change the schedule in the Belarusian Theater in any way, and even its most high-profile events only confirmed the main trends of the past years: drama, non-state theatrical forms, artistic management of theaters, the search for an adequate stage form. Was it possible before to safely put the word "crisis" before the name of each topic? Now, in connection with events in the global economy, we have to look for another terminology. Every now and then you even wonder that everything is not as bad as it seemed. The Belarusian theater is not falling apart, but is in "hibernation" – and can "wake up" at any moment. It's just a matter of volitional shift. But outwardly there is no transparent answer to the question "why do we need a theater?"it does not arrive, and internal processes do not push anywhere. Therefore, we continue to follow the somnambulistic process of theatrical existence. There was still something to keep an eye on this year. The main event of the year took place in his last days. Namely, it was announced to the Kupala Theater troupe that the artistic director Valery Rayevsky was resigning from his post. From the point of view of history, it is this fact that is important, and not the long-awaited arrival of Nikolai Pinigin to the theater. On the Internet, they compared the voluntary departure of the artistic director of Kupalovtsev with Yeltsin's long-standing New Year's Eve "I'm leaving.".. Rayevsky came to the theater after a ten-year " leapfrog " of the main directors, came and gave the theater stability. On its foundation, the Kupala residents gave out important, epoch-making performances one after another. An apologist for the " director's " theater, he nevertheless retained the Kupala troupe, which is still by far the strongest in the republic, and not only. At the same time, the performances were staged by a variety of directors, so it is very difficult to talk about the "Rayevsky dictatorship". What it means to preserve the theater in the 90s, what it means to preserve it now –we have yet to realize. And although the theater is not a museum, and its goal is not to preserve, but to move forward, we owe it to Rayevsky that there is something to move. As for the future artistic management of the theater, it will be difficult and easy for him at the same time. It is difficult, because Nikolai Pinigin, as the head of the main theater of the country, does not have a clearly formulated task. What should he do with the theater? Should I keep it on? Reform it so that a dynamic creative mechanism emerges from the theater, and the actors do not arrange "riots" in it? At the same time, he is the bearer of that theatrical culture that has gone forever. It will not be possible to return it to the building of one particular theater. And it's easy for Pinigin, because they've been waiting for him for a long time. No one in the Belarusian Theater has such a credit of trust that he has. No matter where Pinigin starts, the artists, workshops, administration will believe in him, and most importantly, the Kupala audience will believe in him. Nevertheless, you should not expect any changes right away, the new chief director has been working at the Russian Theater for a year now, and this has not yet manifested itself in any way. While the major theaters are solving their personnel issues, the most important performance of the year for me personally was the second full−length work by director Katya Ogorodnikova - "drink, sing, cry". Like the play "Twelfth Night", which began the modern art theater, this premiere reveals a number of already famous artists in a completely new way. But if the "men's theater of Ekaterina Ogorodnikova" focused on young people, who are easy to "reveal in a new way," then in "drink, sing, cry" an absolutely unexpected role is played, for example, by Zoya Belokhvostik. In general, the performance is distinguished by its ensemble character, richness of action, good literary humor (which is the highlight of the playwright Ksenia Dragunskaya's style) and musical ingenuity of acting decisions. The performance has only one drawback -it was shown only four times during the whole performance. For objective reasons. Viktor Manaev should be recognized as the Artist of the Year. He celebrated his 50th birthday in the summer. Apparently, Nikolai Pinigin staged the Pinsk Gentry as a gift to him. The hero of the day, in fact, turned the performance into his benefit. Without Manaev, vaudeville takes place on stage, with him there is an acute social satire. It is extremely easy to see in the image of Kryuchkov a certain equivocation towards the authorities, or an allusion to the "monstrous hand of Moscow." I am inclined, however, to consider the "matchmaking" scene as the key episode of the play: Kryuchkov may even be more Belarusian than all the "gentry" who deserve the attitude they have towards themselves. The only thing that 2008 will probably be remembered for is the large number of festivals. This is the trend of the year. Even in the capital, there was usually a theatrical lull between the "panoramas", which was interrupted by rare guest performers. This year, the absence of the main theater festival was not felt: Nyakroshus, Fomenko, the AHE theater came to us, besides a large number of guests from far abroad. Yes, we are not even talking about Minsk − five festivals took place in regions for which the festival movement remains the only means to maintain itself in proper cultural tone. Brest and Vitebsk have long been festival cities, where Latenas and Nyakroshus came much earlier than in Minsk. Now Mogilev has definitely joined their number. Gomel and Bobruisk are decorated with festivals every now and then. Unfortunately, the festival programs are mostly monotonous: bands from the Russian province (among which there are very strong ones from time to time) come to Belarus more willingly than theaters from European capitals. But it is much more important that, thanks to festivals, connections are being established between theaters and specialists, cultural infrastructure is growing, and the audience is being educated. It is also important that the reversion of festivals is beginning to be observed. Mogilev puts pressure on the "youth" content, there is a rumor that the Brest "White Tower" should be moved to a warmer season in order to cover the flow of street theaters, which simply do not exist in Belarus, Bobruisk is tasked with working with the national drama. Euphoria will be superfluous here, it is necessary to soberly assess the overall level of Belarusian theater forums, they still lack conceptuality, and without this, today the festival will not be recognized at least a little prestigious. But it is also impossible to conceal the successes of the regions, but they are available − the Belarusian festival geography is increasingly flashing on the tour maps of various theaters around the world. Another very important undertaking, claiming to be the Breakthrough of the Year, is associated with the "Free Theater". Its leaders have repeatedly stressed that they do not want to be a part of the Belarusian theater, and the main activity of the collective has long been moving outside the country. Nevertheless, the creation of the Fantibras theater studio is a significant event for the Belarusian theatrical consciousness. Belarusian amateur and professional theaters seem to exist in parallel, sometimes repeating each other. It is a rare case when a reputable director or actor participates in an amateur theater project. And the members of the "Free Theater" began to purposefully involve non-professional actors in their activities, which eventually resulted in the creation of a studio. It's not even the result that matters here, but the phenomenon itself. At one time, entire theaters were presented from such studios, but now there is no alternative to state theater education at all, which affects the same regions to a considerable extent. Let's hope that the initiative of the "Free Theater" will be picked up by others. For the theater, the New Year began on a good note. Let's hope that this is how it will go, and there are still quite a few interesting surprises waiting for us.