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The Motherland  - a political photo album

by Lauren Viera

Presented like a photo album of still scenes fading into past and present action throughout Russian history, The Motherland,  written and directed by senior Maurice Tscherny, opens tonight. A political comedy, the work highlights recent and current issues dealing with Russia's recently-abandoned tradition of Communism. Staged in cozy Fairchild Chapel, The Motherland  ventures to explore aspects of student drama uncommon to Oberlin's tradition in theatre.

The Motherland,  possessing the title Russians commonly give to their home country, centers around the last 78 days of the rule of the Romanov family before they were executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918. While the general theme is one of comedy, the play's darker aspects of plot lie in the issues, currently still in debate, surrounding the former family's scientific investigation concerning their remains. Each scene wavers in time period and setting; Fairchild becomes everything from 1997 England to 1918 Russia.

The play's plot discussion and related issues do not end with setting and family history, however. Tscherny manages to get the audience involved, as well. In the second act the play-goers simulate a conference backdrop, as well as imitate actual scenarios and dialogues throughout other parts of the play. Tscherny wanted to break the standard barriers between the stereotypical actor-audience relationship within a play setting. "It's just not fair to invite people into a space and not let them play, too!" he said in the play's press release.

The Motherland,  while exploring fundamental issues of Russian politics in a comic light, seeks to raise further questions about the period in which it fits. "What will Russia discover or understand by unearthing the remains of the Romanov family?" the program begs. And, throughout the performance, the audience is left to ponder such ethical and political issues. Simultaneously, however, Tscherny does not want his audience to forget the historical, tragic side of the story.

Splitting the cast between the present-day and 1918 Russia, The Motherland  should prove to be an interesting dramatic experiment with the balance of time and location intertwined politically. "The story behind the Romanov executions plays a significant role in all of our lives," Tscherny said. He's right: while tonight's premier is neither in Russia nor is the year 1918, The Motherland  raises issues of relevance for any culture at any time.


Photo:
Are you really listening to me?:Members of The Motherland  cast try to communicate in post-communist Russia while their world crumbles, humerously, around them. (photo by Christina Rudden)


Oberlin

Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 125, Number 22; April 25, 1997

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