The play "My Beloved Country" in Berlin 17 May 2026

"My Favorite Country " is a performance-installation based on the documentary book by Elena Kostyuchenko, which has become a bestseller in many countries.

The goal of the project is not so much to describe the state of modern Russia, but to try in different ways to answer the terrible and even shameful questions that have recently become relevant on a global scale.

How to build relations with the motherland, which is slipping into evil?

How can we understand and at least partially accept people who are both victims of this evil and participants in it?

Where lies the border between disenfranchisement and indifference?

The core of the narrative is the personal story of the author of the book, her experience of interacting with a world that most people prefer not to see.

The play explores how reality is described and perceived. The autobiographical texts of the book, performed by a Russian-speaking actress, and documentary reports about disenfranchised and voiceless people in Russia, performed by European artists, are intertwined with visual and sound images, creating a multi-layered narrative.

Our performance is an attempt at translation: not only from language to language, but from culture to culture, from context to context. Is it possible in principle to explain a complex social and political reality? Can we understand each other by freeing ourselves from stamps and imposed ideas? We believe it is possible.

Rolf K. Hemke, artistic director of Kunstfest Weimar, the largest contemporary art festival in eastern Germany, said on the occasion of the presentation of the festival program:

"LIVE Boldly is the motto of Kunstfest Weimar 2025, and one of the central positions that justifies this title is our coproduction "Das Land, das ich liebe"/"My Favorite Country", which was created by artists in precarious conditions of emigration and with the participation of artists living in Russia whose names we cannot mention for security reasons. It is our responsibility to give voice to those in marginalized and oppressed positions. That's why we support oppositional voices from Russia."

Starring Eugenia Borzykh

In the role of mom (video participation) - Chulpan Khamatova

Starring Leon Wiferich, Antonia Leichtle, Johanna Dahler.

The creative team of the play:

Based on the book by Elena Kostyuchenko

Project idea - Anna Narinskaya

Directing - Polina Zolotovitskaya

Assistant-director - Diana Meyerhold

Dramaturgy - Polina Borodina

Scenography - Vanya Bowden

Costumes - Ksenia Sorokina

Lighting - Yana Boytsova

Sound design - Alina Petrova, Alina Anufrienko

Choreography - Tanya 4

Video artist - Mikhail Zaikanov

German translation, credits - Erika Kruschilnicki

Production:

General Producer - Svetlana Dolya

Executive Producer - Ksenia Ignatova

Technical Director - Alexey Poluboyarinov

Technologist - Anton Troshin

Sound engineering - Anastasia Nasonkina

Video shooting - Yana Isaenko

Legal support - Maria Derra

The production is produced by people in Russia, whose names we cannot disclose for security reasons.

Co-producer: Kunstfest Weimarer 2025
Participant in the VOICES BERLIN FESTIVAL 2025

Partners of the performance: Kibbuz e.V., IFC International Culture Foundation, New Generation Europe Foundation, Zimin Foundation.