RUTGERS U. NOVEMBER 2023
Taking it to the street
COLGATE UNIVERSITY
FEBRUARY 2023
it was fabulous...so pleased we dared to do it!
April Sweeney
Director
WEST SIDE SHOW ROOM, ROCKFORD, IL
APRIL-MAY 2022
Follow WSSR’s hempen homespuns in this satire as Russian authoritarian rule meets the power of these women’s art. But dear readers, it is also a play beyond Russia. Presenting a critical view of patriarchy, autocrats, bully empires and in general sticking a finger (umm..which one?) in the eye of capitalist domination. That is why the Pussy Riot performance art happened in the first place. And reverberation into the western mind is perhaps also the playwright’s intent. We get plenty of opportunities to join the riotous jeers of the actors and boo the villains. In Brechtian fashion this story gives us a chance to see the world while laughing so hard we might catch ourselves crying. And after the show, we may take this story with us as we return to a world that is increasingly entranced with the drums of war, and the 24/7 droning of the celebrity media.
IMPRINT THEATRE WORKS, DALLAS, TX
NOVEMBER 2021
Barbara Hammond's play is straight-up punk rock theatre.
The nonlinear narrative incorporates movement, impersonations, flashbacks, music, and more into a story that challenges artists to use their voices and asks the audience of its role in performance art. It is about two linked incidents in contemporary Russia: the trial of three members of the Pussy Riot collective and the imprisonment of a history teacher on a hunger strike following his arrest for participating in protests in Bolotnaya Square that same year.
33 artspace, portsmouth, NH
november 2019
"I'm kind of evolving as an artist and I think this play is a good example of how theater is evolving as well. All theater is political, even the crappy musicals and plays," he says. "But I felt like there's an evolution happening in art in general. ... It's subversive theater man, and it's new." Billy Butler, Director
LANEY COLLEGE, OAKLAND, CA
MARCH 2019
The audience bustled in the lobby of the Laney performing arts center on March 22, as anticipation for the play “We Are Pussy Riot or Everything Is P.R.” began to build. An energetic atmosphere seemed to pulse through the lobby. Walls lined with the show’s promotional advertisements and “ushers” dressed in all black heightened the suspense as the clock ticked closer to the opening of the theater doors.
Sydney Toth, Medium.com
SHENANDOAH CONSERVATORY
OCTOBER 2018
It was wildly successful for our students to work on this show. We got a broader perspective of the world. We grew as humans and artists.
We had a sound student create a very punk soundscape for us and student scenic and lighting designers so it felt infused with a youthful energy to be sure.
It truly meant alot to all of us to get to work on this piece. It felt immersive and important then--in what felt like a more quiet moment-- but now, we can fully appreciate the courage of the people involved.
Kirsten Trump, Director