‘It Can Happen Anywhere’: Pussy Riot plans prison theatre in London

NEW YORK: The frontwoman of Russian punk provocateurs Pussy Riot is planning to recreate her prison ordeal through an immersive theatrical piece with a message to audiences -- it can happen to you.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (above) announced that the project, “Inside Pussy Riot”, would open with a six-week run later this year in London, with an interactive set in which audiences live through the rockers’ experience.

An outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, Tolokonnikova said she developed the piece out of fear that more people will be targeted for their political views amid a rise of “authoritarian and rightwing misogynist tendencies” around the world -- in which she includes the election of US President Donald Trump.

“It was really important to communicate to people that what happened with us can happen with anybody. We wanted to show people in their own skin what it means to be a prisoner,” she told AFP by telephone.

Tolokonnikova and bandmate Maria Alyokhina were prosecuted after sneaking into a cathedral near the Kremlin in 2012 and performing -- for less than a minute -- a “punk prayer” against Putin. — AFP