Theatre critics can be a harsh lot. They have to watch plays that confound audiences with their literary allusions, societal commentary and artistic pretentions. Having sat through the occasional example of ‘high art’ theatre, I can only sympathize.
The play “Nord-Ost” playing at the Stolichnaya Playhouse is an example of the post-modernist theatrical ethic. Set in modern Moscow, after the collapse of the Workers Socialist Party, it examines the didactic of the haves and have not’s of a neo-classic Soviet-era bourgeoisie group confronting their own mortality and reflecting on their past lives.
Written by the Chechnyan Liberation Army, featuring more than 700 cast members, the play opened to much applause from the crowd. As the story unfolded, Aristotle, symbolizing the plight of the workers, insisted on keeping the middle-class values of the Smegvorsk neighbourhood in which he grew up, by insisting that all the members of the audience stay in their seats, under penalty of death.
In a stunning use of immersive, interactive theatre, the hostage taking scene, spread over three days included an innovative use of props, tear gas and live rounds forced the audience to question their upbringing by forcing them to use the orchestra pit as a latrine, going without water and food and generally feeling the oppression of the working socialist in a post modern era.
The climactic scene, the storming of the theatre by Russian Security Forces had all the elements of high camp, innately parodying yet embracing the conventions of the seminal ’39 Blows’ and the Palace steps scene from ‘Potemkin’ with its anti-cinematic use of frequent bullets and the liberal use of stage blood as the RSF actors, portraying yet ironically parodying armed thugs of liberation/death imagery, stormed the theatre.
An entertaining evenings’ amusement. Tickets are $20 through to $50. No matinees.
RoadDave 