Last year, a military court in Moscow convicted Yevgenia Berkovich, a writer and theater director, of “inciting hostility and hatred” against the Russian state, for staging a play that her judge declined to read or watch. Arkady Ostrovsky traces the history of Russian theater from the Bolshevik Revolution to the present, and makes playful, critical use of dramaturgy to depict the absurdity of Berkovich’s trial. Berkovich herself is a fascinating character, disarming (“I want to go home, I want prosecco, and a big, thick steak”) and inevitable, recounting her family’s political and intellectual history before saying, “I am made up of this.”
Stalin’s show trials were grandiose affairs, staged in the vast ceremonial hall of the House of the Union and illuminated by bright lights so th…
Last year, a military court in Moscow convicted Yevgenia Berkovich, a writer and theater director, of “inciting hostility and hatred” against the Russian state, for staging a play that her judge declined to read or watch. Arkady Ostrovsky traces the history of Russian theater from the Bolshevik Revolution to the present, and makes playful, critical use of dramaturgy to depict the absurdity of Berkovich’s trial. Berkovich herself is a fascinating character, disarming (“I want to go home, I want prosecco, and a big, thick steak”) and inevitable, recounting her family’s political and intellectual history before saying, “I am made up of this.”
Stalin’s show trials were grandiose affairs, staged in the vast ceremonial hall of the House of the Union and illuminated by bright lights so they could be filmed and broadcast in cinemas around the country. The main role was played by the accused, who would abjectly confess their crimes—usually after torture or threats to family members—in the hope that the performance would save their lives. Putin’s trials are not a spectator sport but they also make a mockery of logic and argument, to demonstrate that the state has power over objective reality.
On the first day of Berkovich’s and Petriychuk’s trial, Ekaterina Denisova, the young, suntanned state prosecutor, read out the indictment at a rapid clip. It was almost comically slapdash. “At a time not precisely established by the investigation…at a place not established by the investigation, Yevgenia Berkovich, holding ideological beliefs related to the justification and promotion of terrorism…read the text of the theatrical play ‘Finist, the Bright Falcon.’” Certain words were repeated like a refrain: “Islam,” “terrorists,” “crime,” “knowingly,” “extremist.”
Massin: “Do you understand the charge?”
Berkovich: “I don’t understand the question about whether I understand the charge. The meaning of the words is clear. I know Russian perfectly well. It is completely unclear what this set of words has to do with me…I have never shared any form of Islam, either radical, nor any other…I have never worn a hijab. I am in a secular marriage to a non-religious man. I eat pork, I take pictures on the beach…I never published or disseminated anything. I staged the performance with the aim of preventing terrorism…I consider this indictment illegal.”
More picks from 1843 Magazine
The School for Wildlife Traffickers
Rachel Nuwer | 1843 Magazine | October 16, 2025 | 4,302 words
“Chinese criminals are recruiting Malawian orphans into the ivory trade.”
The Two Lives of William Woods
Charlie McCann | 1843 Magazine | July 17, 2025 | 5,684 words
“One man was telling the truth; the other was living a lie.”
The Curse of Kenya’s Long-Distance Runners
Jonathan W. Rosen | 1843 Magazine | May 30, 2025 | 5,874 words
“Kelvin Kiptum had the world at his feet. Then it all ended in an instant.”