What with funding news, openings of shows, closing shows, pay and tragic passings of life, theatre is never far from reported news. In a more political stance, the King’s Head Theatre in Islington has responded to Russia’s anti-gay laws in a reaction to the escalating violence and oppression towards gay Russians after Putin’s anti-gay legislation and the current high-profile debate over the Sochi 2014 Olympics.
Many aspects of theatreland have spread into the political and social spectrum, making their views known either directly or indirectly. For the King’s Head Theatre this will be the first verbatim account in response to Putin. In order to do this the King’s Head Theatre has commissioned a rapid-response protest piece to help raise the public’s perspective of the situation as a humanitarian issue that needs to be urgently addressed. Gay activist Russians have been viciously attacked and prosecuted for “spreading homosexual propaganda”, homophobic murders are on the increase and gay parents are fleeing their homeland for fear of having their children taken away from them, the new laws affecting individuals across the board.
Sochi 2014 provides an invaluable opportunity to focus on Russia’s attitude towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. These voices will be heard on stage for the first time to make a stand for those who endure oppression on a daily basis, and raise important questions, such as what will other countries do about this dated and incomprehensible attitude, and what will happen if we do nothing.
Behind Sochi 2014 is playwright Tess Berry-Hart who is an experienced verbatim theatre writer, using Russians’ stories to increase public awareness in the UK. The piece will be interspersed with media coverage, debate over solutions and extracts from the Olympic charter which show the flagrant violations of the Olympic spirit by Putin’s regime, harnessing the power of theatre as a political vehicle to demand change.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.