Review of the supervisor
for the graduate qualification work of fourth-year bachelor student "Peculiarities of interaction between the state and the theater in the sphere of Russian cultural policy" by Daria Dmitrievna Yefimova

The graduate qualification work of Daria Dmitrievna Efimova is of scientific and applied interest from the point of view of her contribution to the development of GR-activities' problems. In this work on the example of functioning of one of the oldest theaters in the city of St. Petersburg - Alexandrinsky theater the ways of cooperation of the theater management with representatives of state power on the regional and federal levels are considered. The paper consists of two chapters. The first chapter includes four paragraphs and consistently reveals theoretical and methodological foundations for building relations between state authorities and subordinate and non-subordinate theaters. The student chooses neo-institutionalism as the theoretical and methodological paradigm of the study, as the neo-institutional approach emphasizes the importance of understanding the complex institutional landscape in which cultural policy is implemented and the ways in which institutions themselves shape cultural practices and outcomes. In the first chapter, the student also analyzes the regulations underlying cultural policy in the Russian Federation and identifies the main problems in this sphere. The student also makes an attempt to systematize the main technologies in the field of GR-activities in the theater sphere, although, as the student notes, it is not an easy task, as this field is poorly studied and has an insignificant number of publications.
The second chapter is devoted to applied aspects of building relationships between state authorities at the regional level and the theaters in question. The student chose the Committee on Culture of St. Petersburg, where she did her internship this year, as the regional body of state power. This allowed not only to get acquainted with the activities of this institution, but also to find out the problems faced by the Committee in the field of implementation of cultural policy. In the second chapter, the object of the regional cultural policy is the theaters of St. Petersburg. However, it should be noted that the saturation of the theatrical life of our city is rather a deviant rather than a representative case for the regions in the Russian Federation. This also applies to the funding of the theaters in the Northern capital, which is better due to the status of theaters and social ties at the level of their management. A valuable aspect of the study is the analysis of the case of the Alexandrinsky Theater in terms of building relationships between the theater management and the authorities. This information is partly insider information, as the student is an employee of this institution. The student, analyzing the GR-activities of the management of Alexandrinsky theater, points out that there is no specialized department or specialists in the field of GR. Lobbying is carried out at the expense of personal connections (social capital) of the theater management (director and artistic director). Thus, the artistic director of the theater Fokin V.V. is a member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation on Culture and Art, and the director of the theater Emelyanov S.V. is the chairman of the Coordination Council on culture of the North-West of Russia.  An important role in providing funding for this theater is played by the Board of Trustees, which includes prominent public figures and figures in the field of culture. There is also the Alexandrinsky Charitable Foundation, founded in 2004, which supports and promotes the development of the Alexandrinsky Theater. Summarizing his research, the student concludes that the use of GR technologies in the field of regional cultural policy, shows that theatrical GR in Russia is not a widespread phenomenon. The theaters do not have dedicated departments and managers, the entire policy of interaction with the government depends on the connections, experience, and abilities of the theater's managing persons - the director and the artistic director.
Despite the obvious strengths of this paper, questions arise that require clarification: "How representative is the case of the Alexandrinsky Theatre at least at the level of St. Petersburg? Is it possible to claim that other theaters in our city face similar problems in the field of GR?" Thus, the presented graduate qualification work is performed at a high professional level, is an independent and completed scientific research and can be awarded a high positive assessment in case of a convincing defense. 

PhD of Social Sciences, Associate Professor 
at the Department of Political governance at SPbSU 		O.A. Ignatjeva

28.05.2023