VANYA IS ALIVE Comes to the Omnibus Theatre in 2025

Vanya is Alive will be performed at the Omnibus Theatre next year. Performances will run 4 – 8 February.

Echoing the current political situation in Russia, Vanya is Alive delivers a harrowing exploration of truth, resistance and humanity amidst the repression of an authoritarian regime. The play tells the story of Alya, the mother of a soldier, whose world is ripped apart upon hearing the news of his death at war.

Written and produced by an all-Russian creative team with all seventeen parts performed by actor Nikolay Mulakov, it follows Alya's long and painful journey to the truth which becomes a mirror for a nation grappling with lies, propaganda and manipulation. Initially believing he would return from a place ‘where peace is going on', she slowly starts to uncover the State's web of deceit before becoming a victim to it herself after a harmless act of protest – an attempt to honour her son's death - lands her in prison, where she experiences firsthand the brutality of a system determined to silence dissent and maintain its stranglehold on its people. Vanya is Alive unflinchingly confronts the personal and societal costs of war, propaganda and systematic cruelty and questions the price of truth, freedom and personal responsibility in an oppressive society.

Vanya is Alive was written in March 2022 in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Though the location of the play isn't specified, the audience will be able to identify the setting as modern-day Russia. It's currently impossible for the play to be performed in Russia, but the play text has been performed as a reading in Kazakhstan, Israel, France, Spain, Serbia, Georgia, Germany, Sweden, Finland, as well as a critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023.

Director of the show Ivanka Polchenko said ‘'We came together on this project to share our lived experience and to give a voice to those who are unable to speak. This is not just Alya's story, it's a story about humanity. The play echoes the broader humanitarian crises of our time, shedding light on the devastating effects of war and repression — not only on individuals but on the fabric of a society that is both complicit and victimized. We want to challenge audiences to reckon with the price of survival in the face of systemic violence, but also show how even in the darkest times, the human spirit strives for justice and truth.''

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