«Alma-Ata 89»
About the Performance:
In 1989, a remarkable event took place in Alma-Ata.
A series of concerts by the band Kino was held at the Palace of Sports named after the 50th Anniversary of October. On the eve of Perestroika, the capital resonated with the defining anthem of the era - «Changes.»
These concerts by Viktor Tsoi reshaped the understanding of freedom and possibility, altering the lives of hundreds of people. Some set off hitchhiking, others went abroad to study, some turned to independent journalism, started businesses, or formed their own rock bands.
Thus, an entire movement of rock culture and alternative music emerged in the city - with its first rock clubs and its own local heroes.
It was a time of Great Expectations and Great Opportunities.
Thirty years later, we met with those who witnessed these events to learn how their lives unfolded. What do they think today about their youth, the city, their generation, and the long-awaited changes?
«Alma-Ata 89» is a documentary theatre research project exploring Almaty’s urban culture of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The production is based on interviews with audience members of Kino’s concerts and representatives of the city’s cultural underground.
«Everyone says I should become someone, but I’d rather remain myself,» sang Viktor Tsoi, inspiring people to believe in themselves.
We look back once more to understand where we are heading today.
«From the clutter on the floor, a monument is assembled to the hero of that time - a musician sitting on a folding bed by a kitchen window. This image sharply contrasts with Tsoi’s heroic figure.»
Petersburg Theatre Journal, October 2022
«It’s not enough to work well. It’s not enough to live honestly. Something else is always needed - like the cigarette in the hand of the hero from the film ‘The Needle.’ I don’t know what it is. Everyone decides for themselves… We are the ‘generation of fifty-year-olds wearing shorts and thinking like thirty-five-year-olds.’»
kultura.uz, October 2023
About the Directors: Dmitry Myshkin, a graduate of the Moscow Art Theatre School and the master’s program under Viktor Ryzhakov, and
Irina Mikheishina, a graduate of the Moscow State University of Culture and Arts, trained under Alexander Silin. They are directors and artistic leaders of the independent theatre «Sketches in Space.» Participants of international festivals in Germany, France, China, Romania, Kazakhstan, and beyond.
They develop a rural drama and comedy theatre in the village of Fomikha and curate the «Senokos» Festival - a laboratory of contemporary, street, social, and documentary theatre set within rural landscapes.
