Activist, artist and pain in Putin’s ass Nadya Tolokonnikova talks youth movements and Corbyn, Russian prison, and the immersive theatre show that tells the Russian punks’ story
Pussy Riot’s story of punk activism, their stretch in Russian prison and unabashed, world-rallying protest in the face of Putin’s dictatorship will be told through an “immersive theatre experience”, set to open in London this autumn.
The show, in collaboration with London theatre group Les Enfants Terribles, will feature Nadya Tolokonnikova, the conceptual artist, musician, activist, anti-domestic violence advocate and founder of NGO Zona Prava, in several planned performances. The team is currently crowdfunding to finance the proposed experience at a London gallery for November – they hope to raise at least £60,000.
Tolokonnikova, who outlined the political punk group’s manifesto on getting political for Dazed’s 25th anniversary, tells me that immersive theatre was a medium the group was keen to try and tell the Pussy Riot story through. She explains that “breaking the fourth wall” feels like the best way to immerse an audience in their story: “I mean, we tried to do it before as activists in the cathedral and that’s why we ended up in jail”.
“I want to bring people with me, with us, through our politics, the cathedral, courtroom, prison and labour camp,” she details in our phone call from Moscow. “I want to make people feel in their own skin what does it mean to be in prison as a prisoner.”
The story of the political musicians was chronicled on stage last year in Burning Doors, which saw member Maria Alyokhina dramatise the psychological torture and humiliating searches she endured in prison. The play also told the story of Russian performance artist Petr Pavlensky, who famously nailed his scrotum to the Red Square in response to a politically indifferent society
Inside Pussy Riot will let an audience see the original ‘punk prayer’ performance reimagined, the guerilla gig in a Moscow church that saw them imprisoned for ‘hooliganism’ back in 2012 for 21 months. Other elements of their journey to today will be explored, with recreations of the Russian courtrooms, solitary confinement, a labour colony, and even the priests that spout anti-abortion rhetoric. Audience members will receive a sentence, end up in a colony and produce police uniforms, as they did.
“Shining light on the darkness is the best way to expose injustices,” Alexandrina Markvo, the Inside Pussy Riot producer, explains. “Our goal is to create not only a breakthrough theatre piece, but something that can promote the cause of human rights, highlight corruption in the Russian legal and judicial processes and give audiences a sense of how fragile our seemingly ‘safe society’ is. This is an important project that also has immense educational value, especially in the context of the unpredictability of the world we live in.”
“I want to share this experience, and show why you must fight for your freedom when you still have it, because it’s really important to remember that you can lose it at any given moment. This is not uniquely a Russian story” – Nadya Tolokonnikova
Tolokonnikova hopes the experience will help people understand what it really means to be an activist: the painful, relentless, but ultimately fulfilling and world-changing lifestyle. “I think it's important right now, given our current political circumstances, to interest activists from everywhere, like London for example, and America too with their political leader,” she says.
“Everywhere, we see fighting with pro-conservative, right-wing hypocritical politicians. In the UK, it looks like Jeremy Corbyn did really well. Unfortunately, we didn't have our own political revolution in Russia and it's just, I believe, about to happen in the United States. I want to share this experience, and show why you must fight for your freedom when you still have it, because it’s really important to remember that you can lose it at any given moment. This is not uniquely a Russian story.”
James Seager of Les Enfants Terribles affirms: “Now is a perfect time to remind audiences what actually happened and how one’s basic human rights and freedom of expression can be taken away at any point.”
The Pussy Riot member cites the UK’s youth movement and Labour’s rise as a major inspiration of theirs, as well the social shifts happening in Russia right now. She has been speaking with Alexei Navalny, who is running for the Russian presidency in 2018 against Putin. The progressive Navalny was recently released from a detention centre, after he organised large-scale rallies in Moscow.
“It’s honestly so exciting that young people are participating in politics, which used to be more middle class and people in their thirties,” she observes. “Now there are kids – literally kids – hitting the streets, so we do have hope that our regime may be changed by a younger generation.”
Tolokonnikova adds: “Sometimes I now feel awkward when I give interviews on political topics, because I think a lot of 16 and 17-year-olds now dig politics deeper than I do. They clearly know what they want to achieve: they want justice and when somebody's asking them what does it mean, justice, it's something that they don't have.”
Educating people on Russia’s political order is paramount to the Pussy Riot mission, particularly the horrific conditions of the prison system, where people are “treated as disposables”. Tolokonnikova compares the monster of a system to that of the United States, as both have the biggest prison populations on earth, alongside China. She has since been involved in U.S groups advocating for prison reform in the states, and engaged with women who have served time on Rikers Island, New York’s main jail complex. The failing prison systems are central to the themes of the theatre project, as a “global issue” that needs to be addressed by the activist community, she tells me.
To encourage donations and interests, anyone who contributes to funding the production can access several tiers of gifts, including Pussy Riot T-shirts (if you donate £100), signed prints (£250) and a personal tour with Tolokonnikova for those who give £8,000 ($10,500). The perks use the titles of their punk band tunes and other slogans, like “Riot 101”, “Down With The Patriarchy”, “Kill The Sexist!”, “Straight Outta Vagina” and “Punk Prayer”.
One of the biggest challenges that comes with making a theatrical production is avoiding any cheesiness. She says: “I don’t want to make a Disneyland about prison experience, we need to communicate personal stories and information.” They want to champion the stories of current political prisoners as well as their own narrative, and encourage activism – from physically protesting to tweeting – in any way possible. “I want to keep it activist, then think entertainment,” Tolokonnikova adds.
The activist, artist and musician is also about to release some new videos, directing one and co-directing another. One, titled Bad Apples, is about “cops and the political system”. She is also working on a book about inspiring activism and to share her on experiences in another format. “Freedom of speech is a luxury,” Tolokonnikova asserts. “We need to powerfully and tangibly remind people of that in a way that they are not used to.”
To donate to the Inside Pussy Riot fundraiser, click here