Theatre Review - The Last Word

Alisa Khazanova in The Last Word [Sasha Gusov]
















Anna Narinskaya’s The Last Word is inspired by the final statements of women arrested in Russia and accused of political crimes. Some have fled into exile, others remain in prison.

Produced by the team behind last year’s acclaimed The White Factory, this powerful one-hour show, performed by Alisa Khazanova and Ivan Ivashkin, highlights the plight of various female activists who have spoken up against Putin’s regime, attended peaceful demonstrations, distributed anti-war leaflets or, in the case of Yulia Tsvetkova, posted online drawings of vaginas.

They are Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of punk band Pussy Riot; Alla Gutnikova, the editor of student magazine Doxa; Zarifa Sautieva, former museum director; artists Sasha Skochilenko and Tsvetkova; and activists Anastasia Shevchenko and Yulia Galyamina.

We are also reminded of Natalya Gorbanevskaya’s 1968 protest against Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia.

Directed by Maxim Didenko this evocative multimedia performance includes striking videography by Oleg Mikhailov and lighting by Alex Musgrave.

Narinskaya interweaves the women’s last words in court with poems, songs and extracts from the memoirs of Natalya Gorbanevskaya and Maria Stepanova.

While Khazanova plays all the female parts, Ivashkin’s arresting tableaux suggest the torture of political prisoners over the decades including compulsory psychiatric treatment and solitary confinement, before he is transformed into the oppressor – a prison guard.

A celebration of female resistance, The Last Word is essential theatre for anyone interested in free expression and human rights.

These nine courageous women (and there is a final rollcall of 85 others who have fallen foul of the regime) have defied tyranny, Putin’s “cage made of fear”, and their voices deserve to be heard by a wide audience.

Until September 21

MaryleboneTheatre.com

Originally published by Camden New Journal