SOUNDTRACK: PUSSY RIOT-“Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away” (2012).
This song, barely two minutes long, is what caused all of the stir around Pussy Riot.
Pussy Riot are an anarchic artistic collective in Russia. They aim to provoke and provoke is what they do.
Their history and legacy (even the Wikipedia summary) are pretty fascinating.
So in this song (and video), a “choir” sings a holy-sounding chorus for 22 seconds. Abruptly, a raw home recorded punk song takes over.
Everything is sung in Russian:
(choir) Virgin Mary, Mother of God, put Putin away Рut Putin away, put Putin away (end chorus)
Black robe, golden epaulettes All parishioners crawl to bow
The phantom of liberty is in heaven
Gay-pride sent to Siberia in chains The head of the KGB, their chief saint,
Leads protesters to prison under escort
In order not to offend His Holiness Women must give birth and love
Shit, shit, the Lord’s shit! Shit, shit, the Lord’s shit!
(Chorus)
The Church’s praise of rotten dictators The cross-bearer procession of black limousines
A teacher-preacher will meet you at school
Go to class – bring him money!
Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin Bitch, better believe in God instead
The belt of the Virgin can’t replace mass-meetings Mary, Mother of God, is with us in protest!
After 50 seconds its back to the choir (and the chorus) and then the punk verses start again.
It’s fairly catchy given what it’s doing. There’s one more chorus at the end of the song at 1:30 and just like that, it’s over.
Provocation complete.
[READ: April 26, 2021] We Are Pussy Riot Or Everything is P.R.
As the subtitle of this play suggests, this is a reenactment (of a kind) of the Pussy Riot art installation that got them arrested, and the subsequent trial and imprisonment of two members.
The above video shows the events of that day in February 2012 when five masked (in balaclavas) women climbed onto the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and…danced.
The women were provocatively dressed (by Moscow church standards–they wore bright colors and tights under dresses) and they went on to the altar–a place where no woman (except the cleaning lady) was to ever set foot.
The dialogue of the play inspired by trial transcripts and statements by public officials (Vladimir Putin, Patriarch Kirill) which are available on the internet. So while Hammond does use creative license, this is a pretty realistic reenactment of events.
The Dramatis Personae is listed in various formations depending on the size of your cast. But the important main characters are Nadya, Masha and Katya as well as Sergei, a composite of male political activists, prisoners and artists.
The Russian feminist art collective Pussy Riot was formed in the fall of 2011. Pussy Riot was inspired by the yurodivy (Holy Fools) of Russian history whose purpose was to wake people up to what was going on around them.
In February 2012 they uploaded the above video, “Virgin Mary, Chase Putin Away.” The video, as you can see, is set on that altar, where women are forbidden. The Kremlin and the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church took notice. Three of the four women were hunted down and arrested for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.”
When this play was written, Vladimir Putin had just changed the constitution so he could be president for life. In the story Sergei comments, “So he likes his job. Who can blame him?”
The introduction says that in 2014 Pussy Riot became a brand–this branded Pussy Riot was set to tour the U.S. and I had a ticket until the pandemic cancelled everything.
Nadya has always said that “Feminism that doesn’t benefit men is not my feminism.” The members are female but they are fighting for all.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the play is the way it starts. The doors to the theater are locked and everyone–cast and audience are milling about while a group of guards block the way in. Eventually Pussy Riot members start to cause a scene in the lobby and then blend in with the audience. When the audience is allowed in they are given a scarf as a head covering. But pussy riot members try to give them balaclavas instead–the play is quite interactive.
The play begins more or less after the women were arrested (how were they found if they were wearing balaclavas?) Much of the story is about the confusion (deliberate) of the trial. How the defendants were never even read the charges and how they were never really given a fair moment.
Sergei is a former teacher who stands up for the women. He tries to offer historical arguments (including that in 1931, Stalin had this very cathedral torn down and turned into swimming pools. Then when the Soviet Union broke apart it was decided they needed more prayer than exercise and the church was rebuilt: “Imagine the millions and millions of rubles to build such an edifice.”
When Sergei goes to prison he starts a hunger strike
The women do have defense attorneys, but they are disregarded. Even obvious arguments like “It’s as if they jaywalked and are being charged with ruthless hatred of traffic” have no impact.
Some are offended by the word Pussy in their name (their name is always in English (but more are offended by the word Riot) which dates back to the olden days. “The Decembrist uprising against Czar Nikolai–it is complicated, this word ‘Riiot.'”
What happened to the Decembrists in 1825?
“Killed. Tortured. Siberia.”
Then Pussy Riot members hand out fliers:
- If they say take of your masks
- Do not do it
- If they say What is your name
- Make up a name Invent an address
- Take out your balaclava–like Batman–always have it with you
- Never tell the truth to a cop
- Put on your mask–you will feel like a person who can do everything
- You will feel more courage and conviction.
- You will find the power to do something.
Some extra characters in the story are Madonna who had a concert in Russia in 2023 and addressed the Pussy Riot issue demanding that they to be freed–to some applause and some boos. There’s also Anna Politkovskaya, a reporter who was assassinated on Putin’s birthday (October 7, 2005). Her quote is “everyone has an agenda–find the person whose agenda it is to tell the truth.”
Near the end of the play, as the verdict is about to be written, one of the women Katya says she did not perform the acts. She was going to but it was stopped before she could.
The two remaining women were sentenced to two years in jail. But after 22 months they were given amnesty–just in time for the Olympics.
Nadya’s final words “Anyone can be pussy riot. Pussy Riot belongs to the world,”
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