Spitfire company

The Last of the Soviets

Petr Boháč, Inga Zotova-Mikshina, Roman Zotov-Mikshin

Two Russian artists, long based in Prague, expose the cruelty of Russian life with an astonishing dose of dark humour. Chilling jokes, absurdity, and the artists’ raw honesty are the defining features of a performance woven from the memories and testimonies of witnesses to wars, the Chernobyl disaster, and the collapse of the Soviet Union. The production is staged in the form of live cinema, incorporating principles of puppet animation, with food taking the lead role in the spirit of Jan Švankmajer. This multi-genre project, inspired by the works of Nobel Prize-winning author Svetlana Alexievich, explores the power of the powerless.

The performance received the prestigious Fringe First award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It earned four-star reviews from leading British newspapers and magazines, including The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Scotsman, The List, and Daily Mail.

“The more their jokes about Chernobyl victims get lost in translation, the more disturbing the reality seems. (…) On the dark and surreal menu are ice-cube soldiers, blood-red caviar, spray-painted tanks and human hair.”
— The Guardian

Two Russian artists in exile reveal the brutality of Soviet life in Russia with a heavy dose of dark humor. The performance won the top prize at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Based on the novels by Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich.

About the Company - Spitfire Company

A group dedicated to physical, visual, and dance theatre, Spitfire Company is one of the most progressive ensembles in the Czech Republic. Critic Mary Brennan from The Herald wrote: “Going to extremes seems to be a default position for any work presented by the Spitfire Company.

Petr Boháč - direction

He is a stage director, a graduate in Czech literature and language, an occasional artist, and a passionate poker player. His productions have been performed in more than twenty countries, including Japan, South Korea, the United States, Israel, South Africa, and Norway. Several of his theatre works created for Spitfire Company have received international and national awards, including the Fringe First Award, the Herald Angel Award, Aerowaves Priority Companies 2014, the Theatrical Newspaper Awards, and the Czech Dance Platform Awards. He is currently the artistic director of the Palác Akropolis theatre, whose programming focuses on projects that combine music and theatre. His creative poetics are based on the exploration of new theatrical practices and on themes that engage with contemporary society.

Inga Zotova-Mikshina - performer

Originally from Siberia, she first studied dance in Saint Petersburg, then at the Duncan Centre Conservatory in Prague, where she currently teaches. Her artistic work focuses on improvisation, performance, and physical theater. She collaborates regularly with Spitfire Company, Tantehorse, the Archa Theatre, and other organizations. She is a co-founder of the artistic collective Ferst Dadler, the PocketArt association, and the Guides collective.

In 2015, she received the Jarmila Jeřábková Award at the News from Europe Festival. In 2023, she was honored with the Fringe First Award by The Scotsman newspaper at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for her performance The Last of the Soviets.

Roman Zotov-Mikshin - performer

Born in Tula, Russia, he has been living in Prague since the age of 17. As a child, he was professionally involved in ballroom dancing before later joining a street dance company. He studied business management at the University of Economics in Prague (VŠE), and then dance at the Duncan Centre Conservatory, where he began teaching shortly after graduating.

He collaborates regularly with Spitfire Company and is also a co-founder of the artistic collective Ferst Dadler. In 2015, he received the Jarmila Jeřábková Award at the News from Europe festival. In 2023, he was awarded the Fringe First Award by The Scotsman newspaper at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for his performance The Last of the Soviets.

Martin Hůla - Technical support

Distribution

Concept and direction Petr Boháč
Performers Inga Zotova-Mikshina, Roman Zotov-Mikshin
Technical support Martin Hůla
Manager Barbora Repická
Production Mikuláš Zelinský
Booking Nikola Križková

Production

Co-production příští vlna/next wave…
Co-production Palác Akropolis
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