Russia bans play about deadly siege at Moscow theatre

A British playwright says her play about the Moscow theatre siege has been banned by Russian authorities after one performance.

The play, In Your Hands, seeks to recreate the horror of the 2002 theatre siege when Chechen rebels took more than 800 theatre-goers hostage in what was one of their worst attacks on Russian soil. More than 100 people died, many from the effects of the gas that the Russian authorities pumped into the building to disable the attackers and end the siege.

Natalia Pelevine's play includes actors dressed as terrorists running through the audience to recreate the events. The play opened two weeks ago in the southern city of Makhachkala, capital of the turbulent Dagestan region. It was a controversial choice of venue for the play – it was the invasion of Dagestan by Chechen forces led by the warlord Shamil Basayev in 1999 that was one of the triggers for Vladimir Putin's second Chechen war.

"I wanted to put the play on in Moscow," said Pelevine, who was born in Russia but emigrated to Britain as a child. "But three years ago, when I approached my friends at theatres in Moscow about it, they all said 'no way'. Then I heard that the director of the Russian Theatre in Makhachkala wanted to put it on."

Skandarbek Tulparov, the play's director, said: "This is the first play we've ever done that touches the subject of the war. Some people here think it's too early to talk about it; some people think we should never mention it and just move on. But the local intelligentsia support the play fully."

On the opening night, the theatre got a last-minute call saying that Mukhu Aliev, the Dagestani president, would attend. Mr Aliev arrived with his security detail and, just before the curtain rose, says Pelevine, someone thought to warn the bodyguards that the play involved actors dressed as terrorists running on to the stage. "Lucky you told us," said one guard, "or we would have shot them dead immediately."

Ninety minutes later, there was hardly a dry eye in the theatre and the performance received a standing ovation. But one man didn't enjoy the show. President Aliev stood up before the end and, without applauding, swept out of the theatre with his entourage.

Mr Aliev then denounced the play, accusing it of glorifying terrorism, and further suggested that itwas part of a sinister plot based in Britain, pointing out the play was first put on in London. "Dagestan is the place, after Chechnya, that enemies of Russia want to destabilise," said Mr Aliev.

Pelevine says she intends to sue over the allegations and will try again to stage the play in Moscow. "This is the first case of theatre censorship since [former Russian leader Mikhail] Gorbachev came to power," she said. "There's every desire to keep this going. People in Moscow are very concerned and think that now is the time to speak out."