Description
THE GRAMMAR OF SILENCE Silence has become their mother tongue. A visual queer collage from Russia. The Grammar of Silence is a visual stage work about the experiences of gender and sexual minorities in Russia from the 2010s to the present day. It is based on conversations with LGBTQ+ people living in Russia and those who have left the country – people for whom identity, intimacy, and becoming visible have gradually become increasingly dangerous. Since the 2010s, the systematic suppression of LGBTQ+ identities in Russia has led to a situation where mere existence can be a crime: public expression, communities, and symbols have been criminalized, resulting in arrests, exile, and silence. But what happens in silence? What remains unsaid to friends, family, at work – and to oneself? The creators of the performance explore silence and what happens within it. The work has no traditional plot, and the interviews are not presented verbatim on stage. The moods, memories, and internal conflicts of the interviews are transformed into a visual collage: objects, materials, puppets, shadows, and the physical expression of the actors. Words recede, but emotions become visible. Some of the background interviews for the stage work were conducted face-to-face and some anonymously in text form, as digital video conversation would be a safety risk for many participants. The work protects its narrators and does not reveal their identities. It makes visible what fear, shame, longing, love, and constant vigilance can do to a person. The Grammar of Silence does not seek to explain Russia through political slogans nor to offer the audience ready-made emotions. It invites us to look at people as individuals: to listen to silence, to recognize the mechanisms of fear, and to reflect on what kind of freedom we take for granted in our own lives. The work is directed by Russian director Roman Boklanov, who left Russia for Germany in 2022. The idea was born when Boklanov and the actors of Helsinki 98 met during theater training in Spain in 2025. Roman Boklanov is a director specializing in object and puppet theater, working in Germany. He graduated from the St. Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy with a master's degree in puppet theater directing, and his productions have been seen in Russia, Germany, Spain, and Kazakhstan. Boklanov's works have been awarded at several festivals in Russia before his forced emigration to Germany in 2022. Helsinki 98 is a theater founded in 2023 that asks: what can art be after 24.2.2022? In the theater's own 80-seat stage at Vuosaaren Tilajakamo, nine stage works have been created over three years, attracting over 9,400 spectators. Premiere on Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at the Helsinki 98 stage, Vuosaaren Tilajakamo. The project is supported by grants from the Ministry of Education and Culture for mitigating the effects of international crises in the field of art and culture, and by the City of Helsinki. Working group: Direction: Roman Boklanov. Set design, video design, lights, poster: Pavel Semchenko. Dramaturgical consultation: Mihail Durnenkov. Text translation: Taisiya Kostyuk. Costume design, props: Anis Kronidova. Actors: Taisiya Kostyuk, Fanni Vihersaari, Kasper Korpela, Toni Nikka. Production: Taisiya Kostyuk, Fanni Vihersaari. Producer: Producer HELSINKI 98 -PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE DETAILS Duration 70 min Age recommendation 16+ Language Finnish Entry instructions to Vuosaaren Tilajakamo (Vuosaarentie 7): By metro: Vuosaari stop, walk left from the metro's Columbus exit, walk towards the main entrance of Vuotalo, opposite which is the former Vuosaari high school, now Vuosaaren tilajakamo. The walk from the metro to Tilajakamo takes 3 minutes. By car: There is a parking lot at Vuosaarentie 7.