Moscow-based director Anastasia PATLAY came to Ukrainian capital to read Sentsov’s Numbers together with Kyiv actors. Of course, we have directors who would have coped with this easy task, but the arrival of the director of Moscow Theater.doc in the Ukrainian capital in this case was caused not only by professional necessity, but its symbolism.
Besides the fact that Patlay has twice organized the readings of this play in the capital of the Russian Federation, and her visit to Kyiv is important proof that there are reasonable and adequate residents in Russia, and they are united with us in our struggle for the human dignity.
“At the moment the reading of the only drama work by Oleh Sentsov has been caused by our desire to support the Ukrainian director, scriptwriter, and dramatist, who has found himself in a Russian prison. The very idea of the reading of Numbers comes from the people who use every way to promote Sentsov’s creative work, above all his films, to draw the attention of the international community to this political prisoner,” says Patlay. “When in the end of the previous year the readings were held in Moscow, first in Theater.doc, second – in Sakharov Center, we organized discussions afterwards. At the same time we tried to make them professional discussions rather than human rights activism events. The play that was written back in 2009 turned out to be prophetic, like it happened to other anti-utopias. At the moment Numbers in a strange way falls in with the context which Oleh most likely predicted. The play contains the allusions that are easily read, taking into account the events that are taking place in Russia and Ukraine, which we cannot ignore. One of the characters of the play who wants to change something in the system of political and social organization is thrown to prison. Actually, the same thing happened to Oleh who has found himself in Lefortovo for his beliefs. Because it is clear that the accusations he is facing are ungrounded.”
Is anyone going to stage Numbers in Russia?
“I have heard nothing about this. Oleh, by the way, said that he wrote the text for himself and wanted to stage it himself. Clearly, the play was written by a director, it has a ready director’s decision installed. And this circumstance, for example, keeps me from staging it, although Numbers has become more topical than six years ago. Time has made the play very topical, and when we read it we cannot ignore Maidan, Putin, and the current events in Crimea and Donbas. However, unfortunately we cannot stage this anti-utopia with elements of grotesque in our theater anyway for the simple reason that it demands a big stage. The venue we are working in is small. Based on the author’s idea and his remarks, this must be an expensive production. For example, the movable platform that goes up and down, where the character Zero is sitting. Certain technical conditions are needed for this at the least. So, it is hardly falls in with the space of the small stage where new plays by unknown or scarcely known playwrights are often staged.”
How was the reading of the play in Kyiv prepared? What are your impressions from the Ukrainian performers?
“The performers are wonderful, because they could get ready for the reading over three days. At the same time everyone agreed to work free of charge.”
Volunteering is very popular in Ukraine. Our country exists namely owing to it. Who held the casting?
“All actors were recommended by wonderful Ukrainian playwright Natalia Vorozhbyt, who initiated the presentation of the play in Kyiv. Personally for me it was important to go to your capital, work with your actors, in order to present the play by Oleh Sentsov on the stage of Kyiv Theater Dakh. In my view, the cooperation with Ukraine is important for Russian playwrights and directors. It would be good if they presented their plays and creative projects here. Incidentally, Natasha Yozef who is the producer and initiator of presentation Oleh Sentsov’s creative work for broad public, and now together with Maksym Kurochkin, they encourage Oleh Sentsov to write a play for the Festival ‘Liubimovka’ while he is in prison. He is writing a screenplay in Lefortovo.”
Do you communicate with Oleh?
“Me not. Zoya Svetova, a human rights activist, member of civic monitoring commission in penitentiary facilities, is seeing him regularly. She brings letters to him, in particular, the verbatim record of the discussion of the reading of his play in Moscow and photos from this reading. In our turn, we regularly communicate with Zoya, she brought to us from Oleh his commentaries to this record where he wrote whether we correctly understood his idea and expressed his idea whether our choice of actors was proper. So, we exchanged our opinions owing to Svetova, she consulted us in Sergey Magnitsky case, when we were staging a play about him in our theater.”
In the end of the past year Theater.doc had problems with the premises: you were turned out of the semi-basement in the center of Moscow. Was it connected with the fact that your theater is independent from the power and even criticizes it?
“We have already found a solution, we have moved to new premises. We can only guess what the motives of the authorities made them turn us out from the old premises where we had worked for many years. Formally it looked as follows: in mid-October past year we received a notice from the Department of Property of Moscow that back in May the leasing contract had been stopped. That was a formal reason, we can only build assumptions that it was connected with the play about Magnitsky Hour Eighteen, the play BerlusPutin, with the reading of the play by Natalia Vorozhbyt Diaries of Maidan. We understand that the power was discontent with the theater’s activity and many social projects it run. We have always been an eyesore for them. On the other hand, we are an independent theater. The independence from the state in terms of organization and finances allows us to do what we want. So, we cannot be closed.”
Unfortunately everything can be closed in today’s Russia.
“However, we are working, renting new premises in a different district, and now the title of the theater sounds differently: ‘Theater.doc in Razgulyaeve’ according to the historical title of the place. The premises are very cool, the district is wonderful, and owing to this the theater has received a second wind. We are preparing new projects, including historical reconstructions. In May there will be a premiere of the play about the Bolotnaya case. However, the subway station Baumanskaya located next to us was closed as soon as we moved in (laughing). The rest is simply wonderful. This is Basmanny district, Pushkin was born there. The old church where he was baptized is located nearby, Tsvetaeva attended a gymnasium there, there is German Quarter, Mosgorbud, and the ‘Basmanny District justice.’”
How does the creative intelligentsia feel in present-day Russia, especially taking into account the current events in Ukraine, where the RF is directly involved?
“I cannot speak for the entire intelligentsia, but personally I am very depressed. Not in terms of creative work, but morally and as a citizen. And this is connected above all with the movement Antimaidan, which is a bandit formation, sanctioned by the Russian state. Anything can be expected from these people, but they can, speaking the language of our president, kill people in a dark alley, and nobody will punish them. They are even more terrible than OMON. The second thing that makes me depressed and which personally knocked me down is the murder of Boris Nemtsov.”
Russian intelligentsia has a polar attitude to Putin’s politics. Does this lead to conflicts among former friends?
“There is such thing. For example, I am not eager to read works by some people. This does not mean I don’t greet them, but my relationships with many people have become more complicated. But I cannot break the relationships completely, because I will have to emigrate in the end.”
To Ukraine. Don’t you consider this option?
“It is possible. At least we have such a tendency these days. I would like to come to stage something here. I liked very much to work in Kyiv over these three days.”
