Created by Russian artists, Vanya is Alive will play at Omnibus Theatre from 4 – 8th February following a critically acclaimed run at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Echoing the current political situation in Russia, the show is told through the eyes of a mother devastated when her son doesn’t return from war. As she starts to realise the truth, she uncovers the State’s lies and manipulation, ultimately becoming a victim to it herself. A Youngish Perspective is holding an exclusive interview with director Ivanka Polchenko.
How did you become involved in the project?
In November 2022, I was invited to participate in the Paris edition of the Lubimovka Echo festival, featuring readings of new plays written in Russian. The festival was founded in 1990 in Russia and over the years has become an important showcase for new writing, often addressing important and sensitive political, and social topics. For that reason, from 2022 it could no longer be held in Moscow. But many artists who left the country decided to continue the work even from abroad, running editions in cities they found themselves in. London too had its Lubimovka Echo organised in collaboration with Pushkin House, as did Berlin, Warsaw, Belgrade, Los Angeles, Helsinki, Istanbul, Tel-Aviv… I read the play during the selection stage and there was an immediate connection with the theme, the story and its reflections in my past and the life of those around me. I teamed up with Nikolay Mulakov who left Russia in March 2022 and was moving between different European countries. The reading in Paris showed us that the play and the approach we chose had a strong theatre potential to be developed and we decided to make it into a show. We were lucky to secure its premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival several months later and since then have showed it in several independent theatres in the UK. In September we took it to Berlin and future tours include Amsterdam, Serbia and Switzerland.
Tell us about Nikolay and why you decided he would play all the parts including the mother
To tell you the truth the suggestion came from the author of the play, Natalia Lizorkina. The first remark after the title states that the text should be said by one person and I took it as a rule for the reading. But although in the centre of the story there is a female character, I wanted the story to be told by an actor and Nikolay was an instant spot-on. He comes from the documentary theatre. In Russia, he was a member of the renowned Teatr.doc company and worked a lot with texts that explored the reality of ordinary people’s life today as opposed to classical plays, but also addressed difficult questions such as LGBT rights, and recent war conflicts. All that was based on documentary material that requires honesty and transparency. Artistically, it’s the theatre that doesn’t try to hide itself behind “theatrical attributes” such as costumes, sets, inventive imagery or impressive effects. Nikolay’s theatre DNA matched up well with the simplicity called for by the text of “Vanya Is Alive”. When we started working on it, we discovered that this sort of “understatement” tells loads. And it’s really interesting to see how Nikolay gets to portray all the characters of the story without actually playing them, he’s like in a different kind of theatre reality.
It will be three years in February since the invasion of Ukraine, what do you think about how artists have responded?
Speaking from my experience, there are many initiatives trying to comprehend the tragedy of the current situation and the events unfolding in front of our eyes through art, both domestically (in the countries involved) and abroad. Being close to the Lubimovka festival, I know that the plays on the subject are pouring in. In Europe, it’s mostly the artists who had to leave their countries, that bring the subject up. But the conflict drags on and today people shy away from difficult and painful themes, especially when the conflict is too politicised. Has there been a lot of response to the war in Gaza that’s been going on for over a year? I don’t think that there is a lack of artists’ response but rather a lack of demand for this type of work defined by both the audience and institutions that can support the projects. But there definitely has been a rise of interest in such authors as George Orwell and Bertolt Brecht which is an indirect response to the current political situation.
What role do you think the arts play in addressing and highlighting these kinds of situations?
The true strength of art is its ability to appeal to the universal values shared by all of us, beyond national, political and cultural divisions. Only then can it bring reflection and understanding which is the only way to address and highlight the current situations.
Of course, I believe in the importance of the arts but not in service of political agenda. While you are at the heart of a situation, the main difficulty is having an objective view of it, which will often require not addressing the issue directly.
“Vanya Is Alive” achieves this brilliantly. That’s why we are proud and honoured to give it a voice.
How have audiences responded to the show so far?
The response has been very positive. We see that people relate to the story on a human level and in the age of political divide it’s an achievement for the project. Many are surprised and intrigued because the way the story is brought up is rather unconventional. We always end up having long conversations with people who come to say thank you after the show.
What do you hope the audience will take from it?
Food for thought. For me, it’s a play about our difficulty to see the truth. Which, again, is universal.
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