Royal Wedding Fever

Following Alexander Litvinenko’s death due to Polonium poisoning in November 2006, the British media was rife with stories exploring the murky underbelly of contemporary Russia: a world of corruption, betrayal, dirty-dealings, private killings and unimaginable wealth. As many commentators were quick to point out, it signified a strange reversal to the horrors and inequality of past times – a sense that, in Anna Politkovskaya’s words, “[Russia] is hurtling back into a Soviet abyss… total servility to Putin. Otherwise, it can be death, the bullet, poison, or trial - whatever our special services, Putin's guard dogs, see fit.” Soviet times, she suggests - or perhaps before. In his new production for the Royal Opera House, director Paul Curran takes this idea and runs with it. His staging of The Tsar’s Bride updates the action to the world…