The Law was Broken Last Night, and We Didn't Even Know It

With a name like Theater in Russia, it should come as no surprise that we've been watching a lot of theatrical productions this January.  But if you needed a reminder, we are.  The productions that we've seen so far have been quite impressive.  Some have been whimsical, some fantastical, and some quite dark.  But to date, none of them could have been described as illegal.  Until last night.

We went to the infamous Theater Doc, known for its impressive and endless opposition to the Russian government.  As a consequence of this behavior, it must stay always on its toes.  It has also been moved around quite a lot, and the current theater it had in a residential building in Moscow can best be described as a hole in the wall.  Despite this, the stage is actually quite nice and customizable, with exposed brick walls and tiered seating against three walls.

The actors were not actually affiliated with Theater Doc, other than using the theater's space.  They were students from one of the many actors' training programs in the city, and they were performing scenes from different Maksym Kurochkin plays.  The illegality of the evening arose from a particular scene from the play: "Vodka, Fucking, and Television".  To summarize, the scene began with three people on stage, tied up in chairs, who represented each of the three title characters, with a fourth being an author attempting to decide which to give up.  The scene was hilarious, even to those of us that don't speak Russian, and our group didn't give the scene a second thought after it was over.  After the show, we all learned from Marc that the scene was filled to the brim with curses of all flavors, and thanks to recent legislation, swearing onstage has been banned, making the performance definitively illegal.  Considering that this was at an already controversial theater, the students we saw last night are quite brave.  Or stupid.

However fear not, we were never in danger.  The consequences are exclusively reserved for the actors daring to swear onstage, and include, but are not limited to, fines and imprisonment.  In summary, be careful about cursing when the government of your country threatens to wash out your mouth with soap.

Bundled Up in Vladimir and Suzdal'

On the 10th and 11th, we embarked on an excursion to the ancient cities on Vladimir and Suzdal'. Anyone who was along or checked the weather forecast could tell you that it was probably not the best weather to be walking around outside in for a long period of time. Thankfully even our guide in Suzdal' was aware of this and we were able to warm up frequently.

Many breathtaking images were captured in our memories, and some were saved on handheld devices as well (see below). Much of what we saw was of a religious nature, whether that be the beautiful church in Vladimir or the convent in Suzdal'. The stories that accompanied the sights took the cake though, especially with our wonderful guide in Suzdal'. She told the histories of all the sights we saw and the people who built them in a more compelling way than any history book I've ever encountered. 

Perhaps the most special moment of the trip was at the very end of our visit to Vladimir. There was an outdoor concert of traditional music and dance happening in the open air and our class began to dance in a circle to the music along with a few Russians also in attendance. These Russians were so happy for our joining in that we received a very warm goodbye wave-dance as we boarded the bus to go on to Suzdal'. These are the connections that make a trip like this a lasting and cherished memory.

An image from Suzdal' of the Kremlin on top of the hill.

An image from Vladimir of the church we toured and part of the sign that read "I <3 Vladimir" in Russian.

Merry Second Christmas!

Christmas in Russia is celebrated on the evening of December 6. It's not actually a huge holiday here, due to the fact that it is strictly religious and most people these days are secular. However, many familiar Christmas traditions seem evident out in the streets - lights, holiday markets, the Russian version of Santa, etc. - though these are all associated with New Year’s instead. Christmas music in English seems relatively popular, though unfortunately our hotel’s holiday playlist consists of three different versions of Last Christmas, a song by Justin Bieber, and little else.

Many of us decided to go to Russian Orthodox Christmas services on the 6th, to see what it was like. At first we tried to go to the famous Cathedral of Christ the Savior, as Marc had suggested, but we found it surrounded by fences and police who wouldn't let anyone through. Rumor has it that Putin was there for services, which would explain the extremely heightened security.

We didn't let that stop us from finding somewhere else to go. Our newfound knowledge of the Moscow metro system allowed us to navigate to a church we’d seen earlier near the Red Square, the name of which I am unfortunately unaware. We covered our heads with our scarves (a gesture required of women in any church here) and entered, to find ourselves in a crowded narrow hallway filled with candles. A few doorways led into the main chapel, from which the sounds of low chanting and the rich smell of incense emanated. There are no pews in churches like this, so the attendees must stand crowded together. Services are typically several hours long, but there is no expectation to stay from beginning to end. Rather, like us, most people come and go as they please.

We slowly made our way through the crowd and into the chapel, a rather smallish room with a high ceiling and lavishly decorated walls filled with images of various important religious figures. Several Orthodox priests in white robes stood at the altar at the front of the room holding candles, while a chorus composed of Russians in everyday clothing stood to the side, chiming in occasionally to intensify the meditative chanting by the head priest. At one point, an ornate Bible was ceremoniously brought out and, and on occasion another priest would swing an incense burner. All of this contributed to a warm and solemn atmosphere of contemplation and comfort, and those around us seemed quite absorbed in the ritual. I would have liked the chance to look around the chapel more, but the crowded space and the solemnity of the occasion discouraged closer inspection.

I know little to nothing about Russian Orthodox traditions and beliefs, so I won't try to interpret what any part of the service was meant to symbolize. I imagine some of the chanting was probably about Jesus, seeing as his birth is the reason for Christmas, but my Russian isn't good enough to be able to confirm that guess. Regardless, it was still a cool experience, and I’m very glad I went.

Я не говорю русский

That's right. I don't speak Russian.

My decision to travel to Russia stemmed from my love of theatre and exploration outside of my comfort zone. In these mere four days in Moscow, this interim has already done just that. Upon arriving in Russia, I had no idea how much of a challenge my lack of knowledge of the language would be. To clarify, no one here speaks English, no one. To make matters worse, reading is half the struggle through the Russian use of the Cyrillic Alphabet. Although at first it seemed improbable I would ever eat or walk freely again, by day four I have begun to read and use very VERY basic and poorly executed Russian. I'm becoming more and more comfortable in this excursion each and every day.

We have wasted little time as a group and seen three performances already; Talents and Corpses, The Scarlet Flower, and Mitya's Love. As a dance major, my focus within performance lies mostly within the movement of the actors and I've been pleasantly surprised how much of the storyline I am able to understand through the movements and facial expressions of the actors, as well as the musical accompaniment.

Last night we attended a performance of Mitya's Love at the Gogol Center. I have never laughed nor cried so much during a single performance. It was incredibly short but sweet and I found myself moved in a way I would have never expected from a performance in which I did not understand a single word. I have never seen anything like it. The actors performed the entire show while climbing, swinging, falling, and perching on a single wall of pegs, their feet never touching the ground for the entire hour and a half. The ease and fluidity in which they moved was absolutely breathtaking.

My expectations are set high for the rest of the performances and I'm very excited to see my personal growth throughout this challenging yet inspiring interim. Merry Russian Christmas!

Sore feet

I walked all over Moscow yesterday to buy tickets we ordered. We also fought amazing crowds and the cold to get in to see the Kremlin Armory. Beautiful sensory overload as always, but I realized why I've just hired tours for students and not gone myself for the past few years.

Spent the whole afternoon running around with Annika and Nick to buy tickets. A major flap at the Vakhtangov where the administrators with whom I'd arranged everything went on New Years vacation and forgot to tell anyone about our order. They ended up selling our tickets. Luckily, they were able to find us seats in the balcony. Not ideal, but cheaper and we still get to see the show.

Last night we saw an adaptation of Mark Twain's "Is He Dead". I look forward to hearing what students have to say about the show. This afternoon, Russian Christmas, we are seeing "The Scarlet Flower" which has been running since December 31st, 1949.

Expectations

Right now this very minute I'm waiting to be let into my house so I can finish packing, and mostly I expect that I will realize what I've forgotten as soon as it's too late to go back and get it. I'm also anticipating a lot of properly wintry weather, and a reasonable excuse to wear all the winter clothes that have been packed away thus far.

Other than that, I've been preparing for the past week by telling various family members that I'm no more likely to die in Russia than in the U.S. and explaining why I was willing to pay so much money to see plays in a language I don't speak very well yet. I've also been brushing up on all the grammar I forgot on Duolingo because they finally added Russian as a language option.

My main goal while we're in Russia is to speak as much Russian as possible, and hopefully end up speaking more Russian than English.

31 Dec - Expectations from the tropics

I've just taken the most refreshing shower of my life, visible dirt and dust swirling down the drain. Grime from a 3 day adventure in my home country Uganda. My last visit home has been hot and relaxing full of swimming, bird-watching, and sitting on the veranda reading Frank Herbert's "Dune". And in three days I'll be in Moscow.

Going from the hottest of hots to the coldest of colds is at the forefront of my expectations. I'm expecting to be unbearably cold for at least 2 hours before getting over it and moving on as my tan crumbles off. I'm excited for the food whatever it may be. I'm excited to get lost and make a chaotic way back home, with lots of big gestures. I'm expecting to be problem solving, schedule stretching, and bundling up (a lot).

I really can't wait to see art that potentially transcends language barriers. I can't wait to have this ongoing unity throughout my adventure, to be continually immersed in theatre that can guide me through a whole different country. I have no idea how Russia smells, it's predominant colors, the textures of it's buildings. In 2 days I'll be saying goodbye to Kampala and crossing into complete unknown.  I'm as prepared as ever to start. And by that I mean at least I won't be jet-lagged.