Natalia Zaitseva, from Russia, *1983, MRI scholarship holder since September 2022, based in Leipzig with host organisation Schaubühne Lindenfels (theatre)
Artist and writer, who works with theater, performance, video and participatory practices. Natalia has been working in the independent theatre scene since 2016, e.g. cooperation with Meyerhold Theatre in Moscow. «2016 – I was added to the directing-drama lab of Slava Durnenkov, where we matched with the director Ivan Komarov and started to work on the idea of the performance about child sexual abuse. It turned to be a 1-year process of work, that gave me a big experience in theatre directing and resulted in a resonant performance in 2017. 2018 – my play Mushroom was awarded by the Lyubimovka Contemporary Drama Festival, an influential drama contest. 2021 – I was added to a small lab in Yermolova Theatre where I got an opportunity to stage a theatre sketch with a theatre troupe and a small budget. This result was the documentary musical performance Birthplace about a closed military town.»
In her work she focuses on gender politics, labor and critique of hierarchies.
She belongs to a younger generation of Russian artists who understand theatre as a place to express political ideas and artistic research.
Her most recent work The Female Author. A Performative Essay at Schaubühne Lindenfils will premiere on 29 Sept.
