Donbas war immersive play: spectators in Russia’s Kaluga experience shots into the air, are taken ‘hostage’ by actors dressed in Ukrainian army uniform

The regional philharmonic society in Russia’s Kaluga has welcomed the opening night of the “immersive play about hostilities in the Donbas region” entitled “Polite People” (also referred to as little green men, the term used to describe masked Russian soldiers who participated in the occupation of Crimea — translator's note), Nika TV reports.

“The audience literally smelled powder. Rubber duck weapons were used in the play, while the actors were performing in the real special force uniform,” the TV channel said on its website.

During the play, the actors dressed in the Ukrainian army uniform played the “bad guys”. The special force also broke into the hall and started shooting. The actors were shouting at spectators, grabbed a man and a woman from their seats, took them “hostage”, and dragged them onto the stage. The woman was screaming “it hurts” and “let me go” when it was happening. The actors then took the man behind the scenes and “shot him dead.”

The leading role was played by Vilen Babichev, an actor and officer of the 6th separate motorised rifle regiment of the so-called Luhansk people’s republic’s militia. He said that his performance is aimed at showing the face of “the enemy that attacked our territories 8 and a half years ago.”

“We tell people that it’s not just Ukrainian people, they are fighters who are fully trained by NATO. We tell people about the Aerodinamik undercover operation that was implemented in Ukraine over 70 years and special agents who were infiltrating [Ukraine],” head of the Polite People project Roman Razum said.