We are Pussy Riot (or Everything is P.R.)

Absurd. Electric. Fast. Unapologetic. Brutal. Punk.

Barbara Hammond’s, “We Are Pussy Riot (or Everything is P.R.)” is straight-up punk rock theatre. The nonlinear narrative incorporates movement, impersonations, flashbacks, music, and more into a story that challenges artists to use their voices and asks the audience of its role in performance art.

In February 2012, five young women walked into the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow to protest the illegal presidential election in Russia. The young activists, who called themselves Pussy Riot, offered up a 48-second punk prayer, shouting, “Virgin Mary, chase Putin away!” before being dragged out of the church by security. After uploading a video of the performance onto YouTube, the women of Pussy Riot were arrested as enemies of church and state. The spectacle was fueled by an unparalleled P.R. campaign from all sides that pitted church against state; East against West; and youth against tradition.

WE ARE PUSSY RIOT! (Or, Everything is P.R.) weaves together trial transcripts, letters, interviews, media coverage, and statements from celebrities and public officials, to re-imagine the story of Pussy Riot as told by a troupe of Yurodivy, ‘Holy Fools,’ who, in the Russian Orthodox tradition, strive with “imaginary insanity to reveal the insanity of the world.”

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