In 1935, the Russian miner Stakhanov famously became a symbol of the Stalinist work ethic when he produced 14 times his work quota in one shift. Over half a century later, three miners more worthy of the Laurel and Hardy tradition symbolise a very different outlook, in the first part of a double bill that aims to reflect Russia's new identity through personal testimony.
This is an exercise in droll storytelling, starring characters such as the father who tells his children that their mother has abandoned them and takes them on a consolatory partying spree, only to reveal at the end of the week that she was merely visiting her own mother. Part of the distinctive delight of this story lies in the fact that in the Freud-obsessed West it would be food for therapy; yet in the shrugging-shouldered narrative of the young miner, it is merely a quasi-Gogolian investigation of the human condition in all its rich absurdity.
This play about three miners' lives is performed in Russian, as part of the Royal Court's international programme-which has run workshops in Moscow, Novisibirsk and Ykaterinburg for three years. The project investigates theatre emerging from Russia today, yet both the dramas selected for this performance exhibit universal and timeless qualities: the first script could be shot in grainy black-and-white film, or for a BBC2 documentary, while the second - although it refers directly to Chechnya - could be a comment on any war anywhere.
Soldiers' Letters is performed by four girls, and is based on letters written by Russian soldiers to their mothers, wives and lovers. Just as Guy de Maupassant evoked the tragedies of the Franco-Prussian war by focusing on small acts of human kindness, this raw piece uses intimacy and gentleness to sum up the desperate hopes and fragility of the individuals caught up in the merciless violence.
Steps To Siberia: Events
