(beyond) doomsday scrolling
Created by AnomalousCo
Written by Actor/Creators:
Merve Atabek, Tia Cassmira, Simona DeFeo, Ylfa Edelstein, Claudia Godi, Jeremy Goren, Kikki Lui, Alina Mihailevschi, Wilemina Olivia-Garcia,* Kathryn Mederos Syssoyeva, Weronika Wozniak, Lesya Verba, Diana Zhdanova
Directed by Kathryn Mederos Syssoyeva
American Theatre of Actors 314 W. 54th St. New York City, NY 10019
February 6-9, 2025.
Poster photo by Omer Kaplan.
The audience was silent. We sat, immersed and completely captivated by the performance that unfolded in front of us. The players just told us to scream but we kept our mouths shut, unsure if this presentation had come to its end.
When we realized it did, I watched the audience members. Some were reluctant to clap joyously. Given the content of the presentation, I understood why their claps were timid. Mine on the other hand, were loud.
When the curtain call ended, I listened. Most of the audience was quiet. I suspected people were as moved as I was but needed to take it all in before they snapped back to the New York City streets.
Very few were verbal. I heard some that was spectacular’s and thank you’s to the one male cast member who saw us out. I left the beautifully aged theatre both heartbroken and hopeful.
(beyond) Doomsday Scrolling is not your typical theatrical experience. It’s best to leave all expectations at the door. You may think you know what this presentation is all about, but you’ll quickly be proven incorrect. \
It’s not written for logic. It’s written for the heart. It’s meant to make you feel. To spark something in you. This play is written like a dream, one where moments and memories intertwine and overlap, hearing the cries and sounds that may not seem connected to what’s unfolding.
Cast photo by Omer Kaplan.
The actor/creators made this piece one that’s beyond the constraints of time. There’s no linear storyline or main character, but instead, as Kathryn Mederos Syssoyeva effortlessly states in the program, “(beyond) Doomsday Scrolling is NOT a story. It is ABOUT stories.”
The stories of women past, present, and those of an uncertain future unfold before your eyes. Women who have been stuck in the patriarchal war within the war-driven patriarchal world. Women who have been told to be silent. Women who have been fighting to be seen as human their entire lives, generation after generation, bearing the brunt of man-driven violence.
The play uses music, theatre, movement, and the arts as the catalysts to humanity, community, and sanctuary. The through-line of this presentation is the theatre itself. Women from different countries of all ages find sanctuary and refuge from the bombs of the world in this space.
Different languages are spoken throughout the performance, but you don’t need to know Russian, Italian, or Spanish to know what’s being said. You will know. Being set in a war zone, these 12 women of different stories bond over feelings and oppression they know far too well.
One particular moment that stood out to me was a rendition of “Bella Ciao,” an Italian folk song from the Italian Resistance. It’s a staple for Italian history. Instead of its usual upbeat candor, it was performed as a ballad and quickly turned into a march song for these 12 humans. The arrangement and staging was deeply powerful.
Show image by Jarrett Robertson.
As a woman and feminist, my heart broke almost immediately for all of the generations of women before me and the girls whose futures are already taken from them. The resident singer of the play sang as a quote from R. Solnit boomed over the fabric-lined set.
It read “One of the convenient afflictions of power is a lack of imaginative extension. For many men it begins in early childhood, with almost exclusively being read and given stories with male protagonists.”
The fabric-lined set and the show’s use of the space only emphasizes the looming and oppressive nature of power, war, and the unimaginative nature of the privileged. Projections of quotes and film clips pour onto the upstage wall. The one male actor reciting news lines from history to present-day depicts the unmoving voice of inequality humans have been fighting for centuries.
(beyond) Doomsday Scrolling reminds us that war of all kinds has been a subject of our lives for generations. And its next to us every day. It keeps its power by those who sit and stay silent. The way to resist and fight is to scream. I’m going to scream. Are you?
(beyond) Doomsday Scrolling is playing at the American Theatre of Actors (314 W. 54th St. New York City, NY 10019) February 6 through 9th. Tickets are available for this moving piece here.
Review by Amanda Montoni
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on Feb 7th, 2025. All rights reserved.