The stock descriptor for Inside Pussy Riot would be “immersive”
and yet it’s more than that; you’re submerged in your own thoughts left alone
with the realisation that nothing you experience in this wonderfully direct
performance art is remotely close to the suffering of Nadya
Tolokonnikova and the other members of Russia’s Pussy Riot.
Coinciding with the Saatchi
Gallery's impressive Art Riot: Post Soviet Actionism exhibition,
this show leaves you shaken and definitely stirred: it informs as it provokes,
and you are the subject. I was Number 5 for an hour, I wore a red balaclava and
I sat alone in the dark listening to Nadya talking about her actual experience
in prison. She specifically asked me to use my voice more in future… this is
the time to make a stand as the World drifts carelessly towards ruin.
I’m not going to give away the narrative as that would spoil
so many surprises that I really wouldn’t want to have missed. Sometimes you
learn through experience more than by watching and this, comrades, was most
definitely a learning experience. More than that, it was a call to action.
 |
| Les Enfants Terribles |
Let us not forget…
1. It
is 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution: why do revolutions
happen? Open question…
2. In
2012, Pussy Riot’s Tolokonnikova was prosecuted for performing 35 seconds of a
song called Virgin Mary Put Putin Away
– a direct attack on the Russian Orthodox Church's unequivocal support for
Vladimir Putin – inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. She was sentenced to two years of imprisonment, where
she was faced with solitary confinement and humiliation, including regular
forced gynaecological examinations.
The Art Riot exhibition includes footage of the performance
at the Cathedral and I remember incredulity as well as pity for the reaction.
It woke the World up to the direction Putin was taking and now, five years of
election influencing and increasingly aggressive military posturing later we
should be more than ever on our guard. Yet, we pull inwards and vote for a
smaller, less caring view of the World with the worthless assurances of
salesmen that “taking back control” and making our country “great” again is the
solution to our fears.
Tolokonnikova believes in real democracy by which she means
that which involves the people and she is urging us all to speak out and to
stand up for our rights: together we are stronger than the authorities want us
to be. She points out that if everyone tweeting in opposition to Trump took to
the streets of Washington or wherever he’s playing golf that week, and demanded
he step down, he would be gone very quickly indeed.
Yet, on most days we allow ourselves to be divided by petty
squabbles stirred up and invented by social media manipulators or the
billionaire-owned press. We have to stay focused and we have to be aware…
Les Enfants Terribles are an action-oriented,
Oliver-nominated acting troup and they collaborated with Nadya to bring about
this production. Staying in character an interacting with “civilians” must take some focus and they were superb as they confronted the
slightly-disorientated audience and their occasional attempts to crack wise…
(sorry!).
They were, to a woman, magnificent and, if I’m honest, quite
scary! This started with a no-none sense induction from Asha Reid who I’m sure
has a terrific sense of humour but not perhaps today.
Beatrice Scirocchi provided the most genuinely shocking
moment (although I’m not saying how) and Roseanna Brear made for the most
insane of judges – think Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen on a double-dose
of acid and you’re not even close. Alex Gilbert had us standing in line with
not a whimper whilst Jenny Horsthuis has such natural authority I wonder if
she’s considered a role in government?
The troop not only performed well they also played well with
us as an audience group and that takes skill. They were a joy to watch and to
work with and yes, Asha, I did return my pen…
You’re left feeling like you’ve been in a dream and this is
indeed the most potent dose of mind-altering theatrical hallucinogens I've ever been given. By the end, in the words of The Clash’s Joe Strummer, I not
only wanted a riot I wanted a riot of my own! You say you want a revolution?
Don’t you know that you can count me… in!
Inside Pussy Riot
runs to Sunday 24th December 2017 and it is one of the most
important pieces of theatre in London right now and all year. I politely
request that you buy tickets immediately! Do it. Do it NOW!
IThankYou Theatre Rating: **** They mean it man, and so should we!
Photos from Kenny Mathieson
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