Pussy Riot stages its story of Russian dissent in Munich

Pussy Riot brought its mult media punk opera “Riot Days” to Munich’s Kammerspiele theatre on Saturday, recounting a decade of events in Russia through the experiences of co-founder Maria Alyokhina, BR reported.

The performance opened with a drum solo by Eric J. Breitenbach. Alyokhina said the show follows the story from her first Pussy Riot action to her escape from Russia. She is currently sentenced in absentia in Russia to 13 years and 15 days in prison.

“Riot Days” has been performed for around a decade in changing versions and with different casts. At the Munich show, Alyokhina and Breitenbach were joined on stage by Taso Pletner and Alina Petrova. The performers sang, played flute and violin, chanted slogans and danced as videos showed police formations, arrests, trials, prison camps, isolation cells and Pussy Riot actions.

The performance revisits the group’s 2012 action at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, where members staged a punk prayer asking the Virgin Mary to help drive out Vladimir Putin. The action lasted 40 seconds. Alyokhina and Nadja Tolokonnikova were later sentenced to two years in a prison camp.

Alyokhina connects her own experience to that of other Russian dissidents. She said the show includes photographs of political prisoners and claimed there are at least 3,000 political detainees in Russia. “Riot Days” aims to inform and provoke questions, performer Alina Petrova said.

Freedom is at the centre of the performance. Alyokhina recalled that whenever she was released from prison, guards told her, “You are free.” Her response was: “And you?”