Dictature

directed by AKHE

performers Maxim Isajev, Pavel Semčenko, Nik Khamov

light design Alexandr Kurganskij

sound Denis Antonov

organizational support Vadim Gololobov, Maria Tavapova

An urgent performative manifesto filled with water and foam.

The Dictatorship of Art! – No dictator knows its secret. But here, we can at least glimpse its traces: gallons of water, litres of bubble bath foam, a huge wooden structure resembling a pentagram, and pulsating music samples giving birth to a magnificent new world. Hard nuts don’t need to be cracked; instead, let’s shatter their resistance! Burning chairs instead of empty speeches, retreating from excessive demands instead of bloody tribunals, and healing clay instead of promises of salvation. Megalomania, frenzied movement, and the urge to satisfy the new gods of the virtual world with pure, unprotected sensuality.

The AKHE group was founded in 1989 by Maksim Isayev, Pavel Semchenko, and Vadim Vasiliev. From the very beginning, they established themselves as interdisciplinary creators, free from stylistic or formal constraints. They worked across theatre, film, and visual arts. Since 1996, AKHE has been recognized as a theatre collective and has been regularly invited to festivals in Russia and abroad. The group replaces traditional theatrical storytelling with the logic of images and physical laws. Its members also collaborate with other theatres and independent artists, while working as visual artists and scenographers. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, AKHE has been creating in exile: “AKHE was born underground and will continue in exile. Stop the war! AKHE forever! Death to tyrants! Freedom for culture!”

15+ | 70‘

Dolní oblast Vítkovice, BrickHouse
non-verbal