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Based on the book by Jelena Kostjutschenko

Das Land, das ich liebe ("My Beloved Country") is a theatrical installation based on the documentary book by journalist Elena Kostyuchenko that has become a bestseller in several countries.



The project aims not only to make the present state of Russia vividly comprehensible, but also to react to harrowing and indeed shameful questions that have recently grown in importance: how can one maintain a relationship with a homeland that is slipping into evil? How can one manage to accept people (to some extent at least) who are both victims of and accessories to this evil?


Where does lawlessness stop and indifference begin? The consistent thread that holds the work together is the author’s personal story – her experiences in a world with which many people would prefer not to be confronted. The production examines how reality is described and perceived.



Autobiographical passages from the book – represented by a Russian-speaking actor – and documentary reports of people in Russia deprived of their rights and brought to silence – performed by Middle European actors – are interwoven with visual and sonic elements to form a multi-faceted, multi-layered narrative.

The play is an attempt at translation – not only between languages, but also between cultures and from one context to another. Is it even possible to explain such a complex social and political reality on stage?


Additional information
Author of the book: Elena Kostyuchenko

Idea: Anna Narinskaya

Director: Polina Solotowizki

Dramaturg: Polina Borodina

Stage: Vanya Bowden

Assistant director: Diana Meyerhold

Artistic assistant: Anton Troschin

Costumes: Ksenia Sorokina

Choreographer: Tanya 4

Sound Design: Alina Petrova, Alina Anufrienko

Technical director: Alexey Poluboyarinov

Sound engineering: Anastasia Nasonkina

Lighting design: Iana Boitcova

Video art: Misha Zaikanov

Video shoot: Yana Isaenko

Legal support: Maria Derra

Subtitle translation: Erika Krushelnicki



Actors: Chulpan Khamatova (video sequences), Evgenia Borzykh, Leon Wieferich, Antonia Leichtle, Johanna Dähler



General producer: Svetlana Dolya

Executive producer: Ksenia Ignatova

Co-produced by: Kunstfest Weimar 2025

Funding: Kibbuz e. V., IFC International Culture Foundation, Zimin Foundation, New Generation Europe Foundation
Dates
October 2025
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