A Night with Pussy Riot: The Band that isn’t a Band 

If members of the audience thought they were going to see a Pussy Riot concert then they might have been a little disappointed by their sold-out show Wednesday night at Theatre Rialto.

Those who were completely prepared for a  multimedia activism experience, an absurd but moving and poignant piece of performance art—then they delivered. The room at the beautiful former movie theatre was completely packed yet the stage was oddly barren. A few drums, a couple of mic stands, a DJ set, and a long table with a ridiculous amount of water bottles (we will come back to the water bottles later).

The performance, called Riot Days is a “play” in the loosest of terms, based on the book by member Maria (Masha) Alyokhina. It’s a memoir about her two years in a gulag prison after their infamous “punk-prayer” action.

For the uninitiated, Pussy Riot is a feminist protest group and art collective. They famously put on one of their guerrilla-style performances in 2012 at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour Church, protesting the re-election of Putin and his ties to the church.

There have been 10-15 members of Pussy Riot throughout the years, but only four of them performed: Maria Alyokhina, Diana Burkot, Olga Borisova, and Alina Petrovna.

Alexander Cheparukhin, producer and video director of the Riot Days’ visual elements introduced the group. “They have never been a punk band,” he said to the crowd, “they were never a band at all.”

You could feel the uncertainty from some members of the audience as to what to expect from the night.

Codes to donate to Ukrainian children’s hospitals were scattered everywhere. The members of Pussy Riot never lost focus on the realities of the war and the situation in Russia during their performance.

The show began with a performance by Liza Anne, a perfect opener who set the odd activism tone of the night. It was both beautiful and emotional as she talked about coming out at 30 and how now she’s, “sober, in love, and it all makes sense.” In almost the same breath she broke out into a deliciously confusing choreographed number about how much she loves Shania Twain.

That combination of beauty, emotion, chaos, confusion, and humour was the common thread of the evening.

Pussy Riot’s performance put us on an intended high alert. At one point, Alyokhina stood in the centre of the stage pouring water bottle after water bottle on her head while Borisova showered the audience.

The now-drenched leader lit a cigarette, and the entire group began doing laps of the stage.

Each element of the performance needed the other. As a non-Russian speaker, the text on the screen made the narrative element of the performance clear. This also led to incredible parts of the show where in all-caps giant letters it read, “Putin peed his pants.”  

There were videos of Pussy Riot at the time of their arrest and content from their infamous punk prayer that really put the audience in the context of Russia at that time. Every book should be accompanied by an hour-and-a-half retelling yelled at you in Russian while you are being doused in water.

Though it was unclear if this was what the audience signed up for, they were certainly engaged and no one could look away. The show really picked up speed after the water bottle dousing. Unfortunately, the sound was a bit funky. Occasionally, the mic and DJ setup would cut out.  But the show was so synchronized and choreographed that the show blared on.

Pussy Riot has put out a lot of new music in the past couple of years with some really cool features but we didn’t hear any of those hits at this show. The music was mostly a tool to keep you engaged with Masha’s story. It was neither their old raw punk sound nor did it sound like their newer more accessible electronic pop music. It was an experimental almost industrial soundtrack to the show. 

This was not a concert. Pussy Riot is not a band. They are a political activism group that has spread their message through music. But their feminist anti-Putin message is more important than ever. And if between the water in your eyes and the sensory overload happening on stage, perhaps the succinct takeaway message was “Putin peed his pants.”

Photos by: Sarah O’ Driscoll