The Blavatnik Family Foundation is supporting DRONE, a new multimedia crime thriller appearing at the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Written and directed by Dmitry Melkin and performed by Gladstone Mahib, the one-person production explores artificial intelligence, desire, betrayal, and the changing boundary between people and machines. The Foundation’s support is helping Melkin, who left Russia because of his opposition to the war in Ukraine, return to the Fringe for the first time since presenting the critically acclaimed The Forest in 2019. The production also reflects longstanding connections within the international theatre community. Mahib trained at the Moscow Art Theatre, where actor Brian Cox taught exchange students, and his son, Alan Cox, will make a guest appearance. Read the article here.
Brian Cox and UK’s Third-Richest Man Back Exiled Russian’s Edinburgh Fringe Crime Thriller
Learn More
Discover the cutting-edge science we fund
Providing many of the world's best researchers, scientists, and universities with support, and funding to discover breakthroughs that solve humankind's greatest challenges.
See how we support great cultural institutions around the world
The Foundation contributes to renowned institutions that showcase the breadth of arts and culture, including performance, exhibition and education.
Visit the Blavatnik Archive
The Blavatnik Archive is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to preserving and disseminating materials that contribute to the study of 20th-century Jewish and world history, with a special emphasis on World War I, World War II, and Soviet Russia.