Is it true that the mayor of Riga is closing the Russian Theater to open a gay club?

At the beginning of March 2023, information spread in the Russian media and social networks that the mayor of Riga, Martins Stakis, had opened a new gay club in the Latvian capital and at the same time promised to close the Riga Russian Theater and rename Wagner Street. We decided to check how true this is.

News that Martins Stakis has opened a new gay club and is going to close the Riga Russian Theater and rename Wagner Street began appearing in Russian-language blogs on March 6. At first, the news was presented like this: “The mayor of Riga, who promised to close the Russian Theater. Chekhov in Riga, opened a gay club.” In particular, the VKontakte public wrote about this “Russian spring" Then the TV channel website “Constantinople“reported that “previously Stakis promised the townspeople to close the Chekhov Russian Theater and rename Richard Wagner Street.” The title of the publication reads: “Instead of the Russian theater - a “rainbow” club.” And Wagner Street, according to Tsargrad, did not please the mayor of Riga with unwanted associations with the Wagner PMC fighting in Ukraine. On March 7, they talked about a gay club to the detriment of the theater in the program “60 minutes"(from 28:23). And by March 8th in blogs (for example, in “Zene") they began to write that the mayor of Riga was “closing the Russian Theater for the sake of minorities.”

Club Skapis opened in Riga on March 2, 2023. This evening the mayor of the Latvian capital really visited this establishment and made a speech in honor of the opening of the club. Mārtiņš Stakis’s speech was filmed and his speech was posted on the Internet fully. Latvian media later published a text version of it: “We once promised, when we started working in the city council, we said that we want more joy in this city. If we knew what would happen in the next two and a half years, we would probably be more careful with our promises. But I think everyone present today will agree: such real and genuine joy is missing in this city. Therefore, I want to say a huge thank you to the creators of the bar for deciding to help us achieve this common goal. In my understanding, joy is when it is easy and carefree. And easy and carefree is when you can feel safe, when no one judges you, no one condemns you, no one tells you how to behave correctly, who to love, who to be with. And I wish the same for you.”

In Stakis's speech there was not a word about Russians, Russia, the Russian Theater or Wagner. But the messages from Tsargrad or the 60 Minutes program can be interpreted in another way: for example, as a mention of previous statements by Martins Stakis.

It was not possible to find any mention of the Riga Russian Theater named after Mikhail Chekhov in Stakis’ public statements. In his twitter Stakis last mentioned this theater in November 2021, and in a completely different context: the mayor thanked theater employees for calling for vaccinations against coronavirus before performances.

The publication Re:Baltica asked both Stakis and the Ministry of Culture for comments on the plans to close the theater. Councilor Martins Stakis stated that “the mayor of Riga never called or planned to do anything like this and never spoke about it.” And the ministry explained that the fate of the theater is solely within the competence of this department and that there are no plans to close it.

The theater has really been having difficulties lately: at the beginning of the year, the Latvian Ministry of Culture didn't renew contract with theater director Dana Bjork. Björk herself stated, that she became a victim of political intrigue: the ministry received many complaints against her, including accusations of disloyalty to the Latvian state. However, the head of the department, Uldis Zarins, later clarifiedthat there are no complaints against the director of the theater and that she has the right to head the theater again if she wins an open competition. The winner will be assessed by an interdepartmental commission; the mayor of Riga is not among its participants. Theater meanwhile continues his work: in early April he will premiere Hamlet.

Wagner Street (which, by the way, is located very close to the theater) has a completely mysterious story: no statement from the mayor of Riga, no other renaming initiatives.

The street in the Old Town received its name relatively recently, in 1987. In the 1940s, during the German occupation, Wagner Street was called the current Dzirnavu Street. It is no coincidence that the modern Richard Wagner street received its name: in 1837–1839, the German composer served in Riga in the theater, which was located in this very quarter. The only news that we have been able to discover recently is about the allocation of money for recovery Wagner's house (where the German Theater was located), which is now in disrepair.

Thus, reports that the mayor of Riga opened a gay club instead of a theater, or that he generally advocated the closure of the Riga Russian Theater, and even more so about the renaming of Wagner Street, do not correspond to reality.

Cover photo: social networks

Not true

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