EDINBURGH 2023: Review: VANYA IS ALIVE, @theSpace, Symposium Hall

Vanya Is Alive is inspired by letters from the frontline of the Second World War written by Natalia Lizorkina and performed by Nikolai Mulakov; both from Russia and who are currently in exile due to their anti-war positions. This brave and momentous play gives us a glimpse into the life of people who breach the ‘code of silence’ in Russia. 

Set in a blank, black draped studio performance venue at the Edinburgh Fringe with no set, props, costume or make up. This is a one hour, one-man show told by Mulakov who gets up from the audience wearing only a black hoody and jeans. Immediately he naturalistically connects with the audience using deep eye contact and asking us who speaks Russian as this play has been translated into English by director Ivanka Polchenko. We are already aware this is a story told through the lens of pure authenticity. 

Alya, the mother of a Russian soldier, is told that her son Vanya is free. As Alya attempts to unravel the truth about what has happened to her son, she is led into devastating circumstances due to her outspoken and brave nature. 

Mulakov tells the story with stage directions and character names. He has profound stage presence and gets into a monotone, robotic, balanced rhythm that puts us into a trance like state and shocks the audience out of complacency to bring us face to face with the harsh facts of the human situation in Russia.

With Lizorkina’s colloquial, dark language and Mulakov’s simplistic performance we are led through a barren wasteland of Russia’s censorship darkness and capture the true essence of the fragility of Russia’s system. Nudges at the President make us question if they are talking about Russia’s Soviet conflict or the situation now. This is the sheer reality of how long Russia’s authoritarianism has gone on. 

Absurdist elements with Lizorkina’s repetitive phrases; ‘The sun sets, the sun rises’ lead us even more into a sort of philosophical condition of nothingness as the play goes on and we start to and grasp feelings of weariness. 

Vanya Is Alive is not just important; it is something that everyone needs to be aware of right now. The challenge behind this poignant message is anything but one of despair. A true story of the reality of repression told by true artists, exceptionally crafted and raw work. 

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” 
― Albert Camus

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