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 Alexander Karpov |
Moscow siege victim's mother defends play
Controversial New End production is 'sensitive' say relatives
THE mother of a victim of a Russian terror attack has praised a New End Theatre show that details his agonising final hours.
The theatre, in Hampstead, has been performing In Your Hands by author Natalie Pelevine. She based her work on events in 2002 when Chechen separatists took more than 900 people hostage in a central Moscow theatre.
After a siege lasting two-and-a-half days, troops stormed the building and 130 hostages died.
Tatiana Karpova, whose son Alexander was killed during the siege, told the New Journal that the play had helped soothe still-raw wounds.
Tatiana’s husband Serge, a security consultant, and son Nicolaus, a lawyer, came to Hampstead from Moscow last week to watch the show. Tatiana, who was too ill to travel, saw a version of it in Russia.
She said: “We all liked the play very much. It was a difficult subject but we felt the show handled it well.”
She also attacked theatre critics who gave the show a thumbs down.
The Guardian’s Lyn Gardner wrote: “Although the experience leaves you mildly shaken, it serves no particular purpose, and therefore also seems exploitative.”
And the Times’ Benedict Nightingale also panned the effort, writing: “This isn’t very trenchant stuff.” The New Journal’s Tom Foot also found the play wanting. He wrote: “At times the excruciating tedium of the wait (the siege lasted 52 hours) came across a little too exactly.”
Mrs Karpova, however, said: “It must be hard for critics to imagine what was going on in our hearts when we saw this production. For the last four years we have constantly been reliving those final hours. Relatives re-experienced the horrifying events that shattered our lives.”
Mr Karpova travelled with a group of other relatives of victims. He said: “We cried during the performance, experiencing what our children must have endured on a night when they had gone out to see a musical.”
Tatiana continued: “It has helped us all. It is an important thing for us. We will never really be able to move on from what happened, but this play was sensitive, well produced and we have all given it our blessing.” |
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