Maria Alyokhina of Pussy Riot during a performance of their new music theatre show "Riot Days" in Los Angeles. (c) Ronen Tivony/SIPA USA/PA Images. All rights reserved.“Freedom doesn’t exist if you don't fight for it every day and I'm riding in a car that's speeding up,” Maria Alyokhina, of Pussy Riot fame, read her last lines. She then paused and added: “Guys, our concert wasn't sabotaged, this is really awesome!”
In March 2017, Pussy Riot Theater’s performance “Riot Days” premiered at Moscow's largest art squat. Produced by Teatr.doc, Moscow's documentary and often politically themed theatre, “Riot Days” was shown just once, on an invite-only basis, to avoid the attention of the authorities. The production is based on Maria Alyokhina’s upcoming book “Riot Days” and describes her involvement in Pussy Riot, arrest and jail time. “Riot Days” isn’t a traditional theatre production, it incorporates a lot of video footage and live music performances, including several Pussy Riot songs.
Together with Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samutsevich, fellow Pussy Riot band members, Alyokhina was sentenced to two years in jail in 2012 for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” after performing inside Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. She spent 21 months in jail, and was released in December 2013.
