Actor Irakli Cholokashvili has been dismissed from the Kote Marjanishvili State Drama Theatre. The actor shared the information on social media.

According to his post, nine actors have been dismissed from the theater so far.

“They told me that the theater no longer needs me… After 30 years, they announced that the theater no longer needs me… The fight will be uncompromising,” the actor wrote.

In comments to Formula TV, Cholokashvili said that nine actors have currently been dismissed and that, in total, 28 actors are expected to be laid off from the theater.

“At this stage, nine people have been dismissed, and within three months many more are expected to be reduced. As they say, 28 actors should be dismissed within six months, and three months have already passed. Officially, we have received no explanation [for the dismissals]. We can assume that we are less involved in the repertoire, but that is not our choice. If the director does not cast us, we cannot perform—we do not decide that ourselves. Ninety-nine percent of the troupe signed a statement opposing the so-called reorganization. We submitted it to the theater in writing, and later we will deliver it to the ministry,” Cholokashvili told Formula TV.

Reports also say that actors Ninaka Gelashvili, Guram Jashi, Zaza Iakhashvili, Natia Gubenko, and Maia Katsitadze have also been dismissed from the theater.

On May 1, actress Eka Nijaradze was also dismissed from the Marjanishvili Theatre. In a social media post, she wrote that she had been “sent away” from the theater after 31 years of work.

“How symbolic that on International Workers’ Day, this working woman was sent away from the Marjanishvili Theatre after 31 years of service (1995–2026),” Eka Nijaradze wrote on social media.