“we don balaclavas, unite in our beliefs, and are told to follow the actors and participate in a protest”
Before this immersive piece even starts the audience are required to fill in their details on a questionnaire including our social media addresses and signing a declaration that pictures will be taken of us. This same questionnaire assigns us emotive placards for us to use during the piece. We are given a numbered stamp as we walk in; this number became a constant throughout and proved to be our only identity. As we later read prisoner accounts of Russian labour camps, our lives felt a little more precious and our number a little more disturbing.
The audience are immediately thrown in to the mix of the Pussy Riot machine, we don balaclavas, unite in our beliefs, and are told to follow the actors and participate in a protest. The several doors, small spaces, loud noises and dank feel echoed that of prisons and felt claustrophobic and limited.
The acting was strong from the Judge who embodied a puppet controlled by oppression and ‘the system’ so well that it was mesmerising to watch. Near the beginning an audience member was commanded to take off her clothes. It was such a believable performance that we all watched in horror as she stripped down to her underwear, before she announced that she was also a performer (Alice Ivor) and that she had a choice to take off her clothes or not, before stating that if this was a real situation she would likely be beaten and raped.
In general the writing (Oliver Lansley) was strong but I felt it lost it’s impact with too many facts in places. It was the immersive experience that had the lasting impression on audience members. The Saatchi Gallery was well used; we could hear noises from other scenes but this was expected in a small and non sound-proof gallery and it did not affect the scene you were in. Stage management are to be praised for fluidity of scene transitions especially as there were a number of audience parties moving through the performance at any one time.
Towards the end the actors break the fourth wall and point out that this is not a prison, this is a performance, and we have willingly complied with what the actors have said for the past hour. This throwing our willingness to abide by the ‘rules’ and our taste of UK freedom in to perspective.
Nervous laughter broke out frequently from myself and amongst the group as participants were shouted at and ordered around by actors. Luckily we were in safe hands, but knowing that this happens in Russia and around the world was a sobering thought. A great show where I found myself constantly questioning what was going to happen next and this immersive production blew my expectation entirely.
