documentary play playwright, director Berlin, April 2023 / Tbilisi, July 2023
Vilnius / Warsaw, March 2024
Director — Anastasia Patlay
Authors of the Play — Nana Grintstein & Anastasia Patlay
Festivals: Echo of Lyubimovka (Granada, 2023),
Most.Svideteli (Yerevan, 2023)
Languages: Russian, translated into English und Japanese
The documentary play Discrediting reveals a case of political persecution based on denunciations in present-day Russia. The main character of the play, a professor at a Russian university, spoke out against Russia’s war in Ukraine on social media in the spring of 2022. Her statement was followed by several denunciations, a “comradely court” at the university, dismissal for “immoral behavior,” threats of criminal prosecution, and ultimately a trial under the article on “discrediting the army.” Her friends and former colleagues turned away from her, with only a few exceptions. In 2022, the state and society effectively declared her an “enemy of the people,” reviving the language of the Stalinist repressions of the 1930s. Even so, the protagonist has not changed her views and does not regret her actions. However, her life has been ruined. The play is based on interviews with Lyubov Andreevna, several former students who supported her during the persecution and trials (including citizens of Ukraine), as well as court materials. This story is about real discrediting — not the kind invented by the Russian authorities — the discrediting of neighborly relations, of Russians as neighbors, and of Russia itself.