We Are Pussy Riot or Everything is P.R.
We Are Pussy Riot or Everything is P.R., by Barbara Hammond, was produced by The University of Virginia Department of Drama in September 2017 under the direction of Marianne Kubik. Jess portrayed real-life Pussy Riot member Katya Samutsevich. Follow the links below to read published works about the production!
DC metro Theater arts
“Kubik said that she and her creative team are carefully considering the audience-interactive piece’s effect on its audience. Though the clashes in WE ARE PUSSY RIOT and Charlottesville are distinct – one a feminist protest against Vladimir Putin and the Russian church, one a white supremacist protest against the decision of a local government – they both provoked worldwide outrage and a re-examination of community values.”
Her Campus
“The tagline of the play ‘Everything is P.R.’ was perhaps even more central to the play than the retelling of the Pussy Riot trial. It refers to Pussy Riot as an idea. Pussy Riot in actuality and depicted on stage have stressed the fact that anybody can be Pussy Riot if they put on a balaclava and fight against issues that they believe to be wrong. ‘Everything is P.R.’ could mean something else, too. The play focuses a lot on how Pussy Riot’s fame, trial, freedom, etc. was about public perception and public relations.”
The Cavalier Daily
“In February 2012, the faces of the Russian revolution were hooded in highlighter-bright balaclava masks. Members of the Moscow-based feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot protested governmental censorship — kneeling in sleeveless dresses and thinly veiled tights and peering out and breathing through tiny slits in the masks’ fabric.
In August of this year, Charlottesville counter-protesters, too, kneeled as they scrambled to repair the damage hate-preaching intruders left behind.”
UVA Drama
“The piece, Kubik said, can inspire all who see it to have a deeper discussion about the issues that led up to the arrest of these young women, and also what the international community, powered by social media, did to impact the ultimate outcome. ‘I find it very interesting to look at the play’s entire title and to recognize the story is about their imprisonment as well as their early release. I think the story is an important and dynamic one, and one that can be uniquely communicated through interactive theatre.’”