Mark Weil, founder and artistic director of the world-famous Ilkhom Theater (informal center of Russian culture in Uzbekistan), was murdered in Tashkent. The Ilkhom troupe performed Aeschylus' Oresteia last night, the last tragedy staged by Weil. Weil was going home after the dress rehearsal Thursday night when two men clad in black assailed and fatally stabbed him. Weil, 55, was rushed to the Tashkent hospital but died on the operating table. His murderers were not after any valuables the victim might have carried.

"We are convinced that this is a thoroughly planned political action," Ilkhom actors say. Weil founded the Ilkhom Theater over 30 years ago and headed it ever since.

Oresteia rehearsal, an episode. Ilkhom Theater, 2007

The Ilkhom Theater has been more than just a theater for Tashkent, and Weil much more than just its artistic director. He founded it as a young man in the all but forgotten 1970s. The Ilkhom Theater immediately became the center of freethinking. Many an attempt was made to close the theater for good, its performances were inevitably an anathema to censorship. All in all, the Ilkhom Theater was an analog of the Taganka Theater in Moscow - a shelter for the dissenters, a shrine for the local intelligentsia and foreigners, and just an interesting theater.

When freedom finally came, Weil and his Ilkhom took it in stride. The theater began looking for new means, issues, and ways of communication with the audience. The Ilkhom's small premises in the basement in Tashkent has always been a territory of endless games and amazing adventures. Its tours everywhere from Moscow to Germany to Israel were inevitably a sell-out. As a matter of fact, Weil staged several performances in Moscow too, at the Mossovet Theater. Regularly asked to move over to Moscow, he always refused because the Ilkhom Theater was his only true love. Its Uzbek name (Ilkhom stands for Inspiration) and ethnic mix in the troupe notwithstanding, the Ilkhom

Oresteia rehearsal, an episode. Ilkhom Theater, 2007

Theater performed only in Russian. Weil was a true patriot of his city, wishing the multicultural atmosphere of the Soviet Tashkent had never disappeared. In fact, the Ilkhom Theater was an embodiment of this very atmosphere all but gone elsewhere. It was this atmosphere that Weil made his documentary "Age Closes. Tashkent" about. Weil's theater has been the principal informal center of the Russian culture in the capital of Uzbekistan this last decade. Moreover, the Ilkhom Theater is the best known Central Asian theater anywhere in the world, and probably the only one in the region making international tours.

As for Weil himself, he was a founder of the theater and a teacher. As for the latter, he felt he was compelled to become one. Life being what it is, profound changes had their effect on the audience and the Ilkhom company itself. Lots of Ilkhom actors split and moved to Moscow (some of them like Victor Verzhbitsky and Timur Bekmambetov even conquered it). Weil in his turn knew that the Ilkhom Theater must overcome everything. He arranged courses for rookie actors and never raised any objections when his pupils left for the capital of the former empire or foreign countries.

Oresteia rehearsal, an episode. Ilkhom Theater, 2007

Weil constantly came up with new ideas, knowing as he did that a true theater could not exist in a vacuum particularly when the latter was threateningly close on all sides. He was both a cram with a somewhat skeptical view of the world beyond and a true artist, absolutely fearless on stage and faithful to the game. Living in a Moslem country, Weil never hesitated to go against taboos and speak up on the issues whose very mention enraged fundamentalists. Along with that, Weil loved and knew Uzbek culture - without the falsehood typical of chauvinists, but with sincerity and attention to its mysteries and captivating discrepancies.

The state has never supported the Ilkhom Theater - neither the Soviet Union, nor sovereign Uzbekistan. The theater has always been independent of state budgets, and relied on the audience alone - on its love and fidelity. Weil's art and way of thinking must have been a thorn in the hide of very many people in Uzbekistan under Islam Karimov. He was never a hothead or provocateur, but he would never go against his principles. "It's all right they do not aid us, as long as they do not strangle us" is what Weil used to say. One would think that the balance in the relations with the state was found, but somebody must have decided otherwise. Weil's last words were "I'll open the season no matter what." The Ilkhom troupe did open it yesterday, in honor of Mark Weil and just as their murdered teacher would have wanted it.

Roman Dolzhansky, Kommersant, September 8, 2007, p. © Translated by Ferghana.Ru8