also co-founded. This was less than a year after Magnistky's death. It was also significantly, according to the programme, the first political play since 1991 not to use changed identities or allegory but to "name names". Every performance was followed by a discussion with the audience about the state of Russia and what they needs to be done about it. This is of particular importance in a country with few open forums for discussions of this kind. Since the original production, several more witnesses approached the playwright volunteering to provide additional testimony and these have been included in this new version. This is almost open source verbatim theatre and a real example of the power of theatre as a forum for collective political action. The play, in its updated form, is having another production in Russia to coincide with its British premiere. Presenting a play in a different country however, translated into a different language, changes the context and, for a play as wedded to its context as this, also changed the gesture. The UK is certainly a far warmer climate for those who wish to discuss the abuses of Putin's regime on democracy and human rights. In fact, you might be harder pressed to find people willing to stick up for the Russian government and, as in the USA, this is a bipartisan phenomenon. There the House of Representatives has just passed what is now known as the Magnitsky Act in conjunction with the repeal of Cold War-era Jackson-Vanik