A death not reported in Uzbekistan

'Mark Weil (left), who has died aged 55 after being stabbed on his way home from a rehearsal, was the founder and director of the first independent theatre in the Soviet Union - the Ilkhom, in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. To this day, the Ilkhom remains the only venue for original, uncensored drama in a country where freedom of expression is severely limited. An extraordinary man, he created an artistic space in which people could ask questions and explore their experience...

Mark was attacked on his way home from the dress rehearsal of Aeschylus's tragedy, the Oresteia. It was to have been a triumphal start of a new season, in the bleakest times, and he was thrilled by the production and its exploration of revenge and the rule of law. He is survived by his wife Tatyana and daughters, Julia and Aleksandra. His death has not been reported in Uzbekistan.'

From the obituary in today's Guardian.

The Ilkhom website says:

Master Mark Weil died around 2:00 am on September 7, 2007.
His last words were: «I'm opening a new season tomorrow, no matter what happens…»

Photo credit Tempsreel. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

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