In Russia, “LGBT propaganda” has been banned, forcing artists who want to create work that engages with queerness to do so in secret. Viktor Vilisov shares about the process of their show Birds, an immersive adaptation of the Tarjei Vesaas novel, that they have performed in apartments throughout the country.

After Russian courts found that Svetlana Petriychuk’s documentary theatre piece Finist the Brave Falcon “justified terrorism” due to its feminist aims, Petriychuk and director Zhenya Berkovich were jailed. Viktor Vilisov discusses the production, clarifying the production’s aims to amplify the experiences of Russian women whose attempts to flea Russian patriarchy has landed them in oppressive marriages to Syrian ISIS fighters.

Theatremaker Viktor Vilisov examines the important role theatre can play in supporting migrants and refugees.

In part two of his essay, Russian theatremaker Viktor Vilisov delves deeper into the performative nature of war itself and how art can create spaces for collective remembrance and grief.

Russian theatremaker Viktor Vilisov analyzes the power performance protest holds in opposing war, oppressive governments, and state violence.

Russian theatremaker Viktor Vilisov details the rapidly dwindling infrastructure for free expression in Russian culture in a time of war. As theatres and theatre workers navigate the deterioration of their sector, elements of performance persist in anti-war protests and state political messaging alike.

Viktor Vilisov talks about the realities of queer artists and art in Russia today.