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Director Ivanka Polchenko discusses Vanya is Alive

Writer's picture: Hinton MagazineHinton Magazine

Created by Russian artists, Vanya is Alive follows a mother devastated when her son doesn’t return from somewhere she doesn’t realise is actually War. Slowly she starts to realise the State’s lies and manipulation, eventually becoming victim to it herself. Although the setting of the show isn’t stated as being Russia, audience members will be able to identify the setting. We spoke to director Ivanka Polchenko who talks about how the show came together, how the show has been received and what part Art can play in talking about bigger societal issues

 


Vanya is Alive

Q&A with director of Vanya is Alive Ivanka Polchenko

 

Tell us about how the project came together

The project grew out of a reading in November 2022 staged in Paris for a playwrighting festival Lubimovka Echo. Originally a renowned festival held in Moscow since 2001, it had to stop its public activity in Russia after the events of February 2022. Instead, it continued to hold editions in different countries across the world, presenting the most recent plays written in Russian whatever the country of origin of the writer may be. I discovered “Vanya Is Alive” by Natalia Lizorkina during the selection process and it was a shock. Rarely a contemporary text manages to seize the events of present day and set them in a frame that is both modern and universal. It has features of absurd Beckett-style theatre, dark humour and a very powerful state-of-the-world message. I knew at that moment I couldn’t let it go. Then I met Nikolay Milakov who was the main actor in the reading and then asked me to do a full show. But we agreed to keep the very simple form in order to make the text take the centre of the stage. We were very lucky to have support from like-minded colleagues: The Exchange Theatre in London, Pushkin House and of course independent theatre venues who made it possible for us to show the play.

 

The show has played at the Edinburgh Fringe and other countries in Europe, how have you found the audience reaction?

We can always tell when there are more Russian speaking viewers present in the theatre. Their reaction is quite different. They laugh a lot and react to the cultural codes and details in the play. The non-Russian speaking audience is much more serious and absorbed. When they laugh it’s almost as if they were caught by surprise, but we can feel that their involvement is very strong. It’s like guiding them into a world they are discovering. We are very glad to be able to reach such diverse audience.

 

What other pieces of theatre have you seen about the War that you’ve found impactful?

I’m based in Paris so can only speak of what I could see there. A year ago, the Theatre du Soleil in Paris presented a very interesting production of a play by the American playwright Richard Nelson entitled “Our Life in Art”. It tells a story of Russian actors of Moscow Art Theatre on tour in the US in 1920s with the background of political changes at home, mulling over the possibility to remain in America. Suddenly, the events of 1922 resonated with today’s questions of displaced artists, ongoing conflicts, political choices, belonging and identity. I know that Richard Nelson put the play on in Kyiv a year later, which is a true testimony to its artistic value. Another show that comes in mind is “Eleven and Twelve” directed by Peter Brook which told a story of a religious man who finds himself at the centre of a fratricidal conflict between two communities based on a tiny difference in the number of prayers they say. I remember vividly the powerful interrogation about truth and faith which resonated through the whole piece. Moments like this make you understand the role of theatre in society.

 

Do you think it’s important that theatre deals with bigger issues like this?

Theatre has always dealt with bigger issues. The question is how we artists do it. Take Bertolt Brecht who is a classic author of political theatre. But he was also a visionary, that’s why his plays like “Mother Courage and Her Children” are performed today along with the Greek tragedies and Shakespearean plays when we want to evoke such themes as contemporary military conflicts, authoritarian regimes and fight for freedom and human rights.

I’m convinced that we can’t address these issues head-on if we want our audience to think, to be questioned, to be moved. The metaphor is the key. “Vanya Is Alive” has this capacity.

 

How are you feeling about the show coming to London?

We are very excited. London audience is very diverse, dynamic and curious. The city is a melting pot of cultures and communities, we are thrilled to share the story with everyone. The message of the play is universal and we hope that each spectator will take something from it.

 

Are there any future plans for the show?

We are presenting the show in Amsterdam at the end of February, in Serbia and Montenegro in March, and then there is interest in Switzerland and in the US. Fingers crossed.

 


Vanya is Alive

Vanya is Alive is at Omnibus Theatre from 4th - 8th February. For more information and tickets go to www.omnibus-clapham.org/vanya-is-alive

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