PUSSY RIOT THEATRE – RIOT DAYS (RUS)
Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot was propelled into the global spotlight in 2012 when an unauthorised performance in a Moscow cathedral saw three of its members convicted for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred". The group insisted that the spectacle was intended as a criticism of the Orthodox Church's support of Vladimir Putin, whom they consider a dictator, and the subsequent imprisonment and eventual release of the three women played out against an international backdrop of political and artistic furore.
Maria Alyokhina was one of the jailed Pussy Riot members, and after her stage debut in the critically acclaimed Belarus Free Theatre production Burning Doors, last year launched a new project, Pussy Riot Theatre, in collaboration with music producer Alexander Cheparukhin.
Pussy Riot Theatre's inaugural production is an adaptation of Alyokhina's own forthcoming book Riot Days, spinning her true story out into a maelstrom of aesthetic defiance in the face of an increasingly authoritarian climate. After a triumphant US tour the work will land in Melbourne with all of the visceral impact and incendiary passion that has driven Pussy Riot's expansion from unknown art collective to a force heard around the world.
"an action-packed autobiographical theatrical piece" - Daily Mail
