Why are Russians so philistine?

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>THE posters had been printed, and most of the tickets sold. The ballet, a celebration of the life of the gay dissident dancer, Rudolf Nureyev, promised to be a progressive production by the standards of the main stage of Russia’s famed Bolshoi Theatre: in videos of the rehearsal, male dancers can be seen twirling in high heels. But just days before the show was due to open in July, the Bolshoi’s director, Vladimir Urin, declared that the troupe was, apparently, not up to snuff and cancelled the premiere, replacing it with an old standby, “Don Quixote”.

>Kirill Serebrennikov, the director of “Nureyev”, embodies the former camp. His own theatre, the Gogol Centre, is one of Moscow’s most avant-garde. Over the years, loyal crowds have lapped up experimental interpretations of Russian classics and striking new works. “Müller Machine”, a homage to the German playwright, Heiner Müller, featured a troupe of naked actors gyrating on stage. In the rest of Europe, Mr Serebrennikov is celebrated. His most recent film, “The Student”, won the François Chalais prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016; this year he took home the Europe Prize for New Theatrical Realities.

>Yet he faces a different cultural landscape in Russia, where reactionaries have been in the ascendant in recent years (a phenomenon that “The Student” satirised). Mr Putin’s third presidential term began, in 2012, under the banner of a return to traditional conservative values. Harsh laws targeted “gay propaganda”; the Russian Orthodox church came to exert ever more influence over culture. Religious fanatics have attacked exhibitions deemed to be “offensive”. Late last year one such group splashed urine on an exhibition of the work of Jock Sturges, an American photographer who shoots nude portraits of parents and their children. “We don’t need European culture here,” one vandal shouted.

Why are Russians so philistine?