Country's oldest theatre under "blind reconstruction"(photo)

"I don't think that the architects of the "Citizen-project" have information how the theatre looked in the very beginning, they don't even know when exactly it was built. As the theatre of the manege type of Tyhenhaus times - this is not the building that we have now. Now we have the building of the either very end of the XVIII century, or the beginning of the XIX century'', -- historian from Hrodna Andrei Vashkevich says to Euroradio.

There are indeed no images or plans of the Tyhenhaus theatre. The first of them are dated the end of the XIX century, when the theatre have already been reconstructed. How the builders are to know what to do then?

The theatre's Chief Director Aleh Zhuhzhda says that this incensed the actors. They sent a letter demanding to clarify the situation to the Ministry of Culture and to Governor of Hrodna Syamyon Shapira.

"They did not work on the historical documents, they did not find the historical drawings of the building. This building is not just an architectural monument, it is a monument of culture as well - this is the first theatrical building in Belarus", - the director says.

The Governor unexpectedly invited the actors and the theatre's administration to the meeting, after which the theatre's chief executive officer Alyaksandr Ihnatsenka filed an application for discharge.

Not all actors of the Hrodna Puppet Theatre see a serious threat in the upcoming reconstruction. Victar Shalkevich has told Euroradio that he sees no problem in that.

"Unlike the Kupala Theatre, when they cut half of the building, our theatre remains where it was. Everything is done normally".

Nevertheless, the example of restoration of the Kupala Theatre in Minsk shows that a very little part of the initial building may be left untouched in the end.