About the Author:
Evgeniya (Zhenya) Berkovich is a Russian theater director. She graduated from Kirill Serebrennikov’s workshop at the Moscow Art Theatre School in 2013 and participated in Serebrennikov’s Seventh Studio project. She was detained on May 4, 2023; her house and her relatives’ house were searched. On May 5, 2023, she was arrested and charged with justifying terrorism. The claims against Berkovich arose from the production of Finist Yasny Sokol, a play by Berkovich, based on a script by Petriychuk: an official announcement stated that the play “is about women who decided to virtually marry representatives of radical Islam and go to them in Syria”. Berkovich pleaded not guilty. In 2022, Finist Yasny Sokol won the Golden Mask Award for Best Dramaturgical Work and Best Costume Designer. On 8 July 2024, Zhenya Berkovich and Svetlana Petriychuk were sentenced to six years in prison.
