Director: Sofia Barysevich
In the dimly lit, haze-filled Anatomy Lecture Theatre, some cool cats are dancing to jazz records, but these young people are also engaged in an act of dangerous rebellion. For this scene is set in the Soviet Union in 1955: American influences are anathema to the authorities and such behaviour deeply subversive. The ‘records’ are crude pirated copies made by cutting used x-ray plates (hence the play’s title), and the young people are ‘Stilyagi’ or ‘style hunters’.
The State is already onto them, however, and a comrade is dispatched to infiltrate the group. What follows is a story of how people’s yearning for freedom and individuality cannot be tolerated by a dictatorship that insists on conformity. For this group of friends, ‘America’ means colour, excitement, possibilities. But will their idealism survive, and who will be betrayed?
Withintheatre, a London-based company including members from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, blends music and dance into the story, contrasting the colour and rhythm of the Stilyagi lifestyle with grey Communist uniformity. The balance between live/recorded music and voices sometimes made words difficult to catch, but the staging worked well, with minimal props and projections used to good effect. There were strong performances across the board, with Mels (Andrii Zamiatin) and Polly (Anastasia Aush) as an unlikely couple drawn together, Faiaz Valiullin as Fred whose loyalty is tested, and Sofia Barysevich (who also directs) as his vivacious girlfriend. Olga Pipchanka plays the alarming apparatchik Katya.
Is the grass really greener on the American side of the fence? There are difficult choices to make, closer to home. This young company, for whom Stalinism should be ancient history, demonstrate that people are still risking everything for freedom, in too many parts of the world.
Runs until 31 August 2026 | Image: Contributed
