MOSCOW, April 10 - RAPSI. A Moscow newspaper music critic filed a lawsuit against the Bolshoi Theater demanding compensation of $67,620 for being turned out of a performance.

Maria Babalova stated that on October 2, 2011, she came to the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia as a spectator, not a media representative, to the performance scheduled on this day.

The lawsuit states that before the beginning an announcement was made that the performance was closed to the press and would not start until Babalova had left the hall. But Babalova refused to leave.

"Eventually, security guards forcibly removed me from the theater, they inflicted physical harm which left bruises and scratches and also damaged my business reputation," the lawsuit reads.

In this regard the critic wants the court to recover from the Bolshoi Theater compensation for moral damages in the amount of two million rubles ($67,620) and also to force the defendant to apologize publically by publishing an apology on the theater's official website.

The hearing has been set for May 10.

RAPSI/rapsinews.ru has yet to obtain any comment from the Bolshoi Theater on the dispute.