28 Days

"The 28 Days play is a serious challenge for the theatre both in terms of form and content. It needs a new theatre language. We are looking for it together with students from the Moscow School of New Cinema. Manifestation, post-irony, epic form are, probably, the dimensions of our search area. Realism and psychological theatre do not work here. As for the content, it is obvious for us that the patriarchal world has completely discredited itself. Our work is an attempt to discuss the vital issues from fundamentally different positions." (Yuri Muravitsky, Svetlana Mikhalischeva)

"The very approach to demonstrate how the stages of the menstrual cycle dictate female behaviour seems witty. Female Chorus, in fact, are marionettes lead by the invisible deities: progesterone, oestrogen, and lutein. The composition presenting female self-research spread throughout the keyboard of hormonal periods gives the performance not only an educational component but also the true poetry. Meanwhile, the viewer learns lots of medical data. A woman, due to the cyclic nature of her being, happens to be closely linked with the breath of the world: the movement of planets, seawaters, seasons, the life itself, which is a great cycle of birth and death. This connection is literally bloody, physically painful and stigmatized socially. The female soul goes through all stages while accepting the fact, that being alive for her means experiencing a throb of euphoria and pain." (Petersburg Theatre Journal`s Blog)

Nominated for the Golden Mask 2020 National Theatre Award in the categories:
"Drama / Small stage production":
Directing: Svetlana Mikhalischeva, Yuri Muravitsky
Playwriting: Olga Shilyaeva

The production was realized with the support of the Lubimovka Young Russian Playwrights Festival and the Brewhouse Stage Prize 2018 of the Brewhouse Project.