“We’re not giving you any interviews. What do you want, all our secrets? Goodbye!” — that’s how our journey into this topic began: with civil resistance and resilience under dictatorship (in this case Russia during its full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine).

All the same, we don’t know all the secrets… or maybe we do, but we’re not sharing them. Or, maybe, we will — just not all of them.

Based on interviews with activists and defenders of human rights, the play offers a glimpse into grassroots resistance initiatives both within Russia and abroad, highlighting their actions, processes, relationships, conflicts — and, most importantly, how they live through it all. A light touch of magic and humor weaves through the narrative, as these two elements may be the only things keeping the protagonists alive and in their right minds.

Documentary Theater

Artistic Direction and Direction by Masha Sapizhak | Text and Sound Design by Electra Liberte | Performed by Janina Ahh Akhmetova, Anja Demidova and Ilya Khodyrev | Stage, Costume and Video Design by Arina Slobodianik | Lighting Design by Christian Maith | Production Management and Outside Eye by Christin Eckart | Translated by Aleksandr Fedotov