In 2022, “Finist, the Bright Falcon” received Russia’s most important theater prize and was acclaimed. In 2024, the women who wrote the piece will be on trial. A case that tells a lot about today’s Russia.
It is stuffy in the hallway of the Moscow Military Court. A few dozen people are crowded together, hoping for a seat in the hearing room or at least for a brief eye contact with Yevgenia Berkowitsch and Svetlana Petrijchuk.
Before the two women are led down the corridor into the hall by armed masked men, a bailiff orders those waiting: “Not a word! Anyone who even waves or makes a hand signal here will be thrown out immediately.” It is dead quiet as the defendants are led into the hall.
On the list of “extremists”
Both have been in custody for a year and their names have been on the list of “extremists and terrorists” since April. They are accused of propagating Islamic extremism and terrorism with their play “Finist, the Bright Falcon.” But this process is probably about much more than just a play.
The play, written by Petrijtschuk and directed by Berkowitsch, is about women from Russia who fall in love with IS fighters online, get recruited for the “Islamic State” and then fly to Syria. It is based on real cases and court transcripts. And just two years ago it received the “Golden Mask”, Russia’s most important theater award.
Linguistically understood everything – but nothing in terms of content
Now Berkowitsch and Petrijchuk are sitting in a glass cage in court, where prosecutor Yekaterina Denisova is explaining to the two that they represent and propagate a particularly aggressive form of radical Islamism. With criminal intent, they conspired to play the piece on as many stages as possible and thus posed a danger to society. The accusation is so absurd that a murmur goes through the hall. A masked hall guard has a woman removed from the hall.
When judge Jurij Massin asks the two defendants whether they understand the allegations, Berkowitsch stands up behind the bulletproof glass. She is no more than 1.60 meters tall, carefully made up, with curly hair and wearing a dark suit. “Your honor,” she says, she understood everything in terms of language, “but nothing in terms of content.”
Feminist and opponent of war
She is neither Muslim nor radical. She eats pork, takes photos of herself on the beach and is married to a non-religious Russian man. She sees her piece as a warning about terrorism, which is why she performed it and why it won an award.
Then Petrijtschuk also comments on the allegations, and some in the room can barely suppress a giggle: “Hmm,” she says. “Radical Islamists would hardly use a play for their propaganda. Don’t they reject this art form as the work of the devil?”
It has long since become clear that the play in question is only a means to an end – and that it is actually about the two women. Especially around Yevgenia Berkowitsch, a well-known director, declared feminist and opponent of the war against Ukraine.
Hardly anyone dares to hire people who have fallen into disgrace
Behind closed doors, people talk about the “theatrical trial” – as they did back in Stalin’s time. The cultural scene, it seems, should be “cleaned up” and attitudes critical of the war should also disappear from theaters and concert halls.
Many pop stars, ballerinas, directors and actresses have already left the country in protest. Some also leave because they can no longer perform here anyway. Hardly any stage operator still dares to hire artists who have fallen out of favor.
The actresses carry on – even without their director.
“Understanding that the other Russia still exists”
Yevgenia Berkowitsch’s ensemble, an all-actress troupe called “Soso’s Daughters”, continues to play without her. The performances are sold out for weeks.
Last week, on a small Moscow stage, the women performed the play “Reishund”, directed by Yevgeniya and written by the exiled writer Aleksandr Swarovskij. At first glance, a non-political piece, funny but also dark and with many allusions to the absurdities of today’s Russia.
The women face years of imprisonment
“You look at the person sitting next to you and see that he is also laughing in his throat – and you know that you are not alone,” said one audience member after the performance. “Theater helps to understand that the other Russia still exists.”
Some theaters continue to play the plays of ostracized directors or dramaturgs, but leave out their names in the program. “Soso’s daughters” stand by Yevgeniya and Svetlana. At the end of each performance, ask the audience to write letters to the detention center. It’s quite possible that the two of them need this support: Yevgenia Berkowitsch and Svetlana Petrijtschuk face years of imprisonment.