The play Shushkin's Stories, staged by the New Riga Theater Company's director Alvis Hermanis at the end of 2008, has been nominated for the Russian National Golden Mask Theater Award in six categories out of a total of eight.

Shushkin's Stories has been nominated for Season's Best Drama, and Hermanis has been nominated for the Season's Best Director award. Actor Yevgeny Mironov, who plays 10 characters in this one play, has been nominated for Best Actor, while Chulpan Khamatova, who plays several supporting characters in the show, has been nominated for Best Female Protagonist.

Altogether, eight large-form and five small-form plays will compete for the Golden Mask Awards. Alvis Hermanis will compete with 12 other nominees for the title of Best Theater Director. The production of Shushkin's Stories is also among Golden Mask competitors for best stage design (Monika Pormale and Alvis Hermanis) and best costumes (Viktoriya Sevriukova).

The awards ceremony will take place on April 16, 2010 in Moscow. Prior to that, from March 27 to April 15, the traditional Golden Mask Festival will take place in Moscow. The Festival will feature all the shows nominated for the prize – best of the 2008/2009 season's opera and ballet, classical and experimental theater productions in Russia.

Director Alvis Hermanis announced earlier this year that he already plans on a new cooperative project with the Moscow Theater of Nations. The new play, unlike Shushkin's Stories, will not be based on any particular literary work; the plot will be developed from observations of the present-day Moscow and Muscovites. Chulpan Khamatova is likely to continue her cooperation with Hermanis and play a part in the new production. The new show will be up on stage by autumn 2011.