This production by the Belarus Free Theatre included Maria Alyokhina of Pussy Riot and presented a powerful impression to the privileged audience of what oppression meant and felt like. The three prison doors confronted the audience and were used for the performers to gain access to the stage. The performance itself was extremely well choreographed and very physical, giving a feeling of struggle and fight and conveying the attempts by the regime to humiliate - particularly by physical examination.
At one stage, the performers came out of role and gave the audience a chance to ask Maria a few questions. This did not seem to quite work as well as the rest. At the end, the audience were given postcards to send to Oleg Sentsov, an imprisoned Ukrainian filmmaker. Alongside Maria and Petr Pavlensky, he was the third of the trio of artists focused upon during the evening with their stories being told graphically and memorably. Not surprisingly, the piece got excellent reviews.
No comments:
Post a Comment