Estonia’s government ordered the playhouse to adopt a ‘neutral’ name
Estonia’s historic Russian Theater has been renamed by government order, local broadcaster ERR reported on Monday. The move comes as part of a wider crackdown on Russian language and culture in the Baltic state.
Following an order signed by culture minister Heidi Purga, the Russian Theater in Tallinn will now operate under the name ‘Sudalinna Theater’ – meaning ‘heart of the city’ in Estonian.
The July 10 decree also approved a new charter for the institution. The venue will reportedly continue to function as a non-commercial body, staging most of its productions in Russian.
Located in the city center of Tallinn, the theater was founded in 1948 as the State Russian Drama Theater of Estonia. It adopted the shorter name Russian Theater in 2005 and remains the only Russian-language repertory theater among Estonia’s 61 registered playhouses.
Plans for the name change were announced in June. At the time, the theater’s director, Anne-Li Paiv, described the new title as ‘neutral,’ adding the decision had been “internal and strategic.” However, she acknowledged that external pressures linked to the Ukraine conflict had played a role.
The chair of the theater’s supervisory board, Margus Allikmaa, who also heads Estonia’s Cultural Endowment Fund, said the venue will continue performing in Russian but incorporate more works by Estonian playwrights in the interest of “integration.”
Russian speakers make up nearly a quarter of Estonia’s population. Along with its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia has adopted a more confrontational stance toward Moscow since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022.
As part of a broader campaign against all things Russian, Tallinn has tightened language laws, moved to eliminate Russian-language instruction in schools, and imposed restrictions widely seen as targeting the country’s Russian-speaking minority. The Estonian government has also announced plans to build hundreds of concrete bunkers along its 294-kilometer border with Russia.
The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed concerns raised by Estonian officials, calling their position “Russophobic.”
