16/07/2026
At the end of June, we presented the performance “Memoria” at the Berliner Ensemble. It was also a rare and valuable opportunity to bring together audiences, artists, partners, and friends. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this special evening.
What is Memoria?
Memoria is a documentary play about memory and the work of the International Memorial. Originally written by Nana Grinstein and directed by Anastasia Patlay, “Memoria” premiered in Moscow in 2022. Shortly afterwards, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the production was banned from further performances.
The play follows three historical periods: the Stalinist terror of the 1930s, the late 1980s when Memorial was founded to preserve the memory of political repression, and the present day.
These timelines are connected through the life of Carola Neher, one of Bertolt Brecht's greatest actresses and the original Polly in The Threepenny Opera. After fleeing N**i Germany, she sought refuge in the Soviet Union, where she was arrested, imprisoned in the GULAG and died of typhus in 1942.
Alongside Carola Neher, the play brings together the voices of Bertolt Brecht and Irina Scherbakowa, one of Memorial's founders, whose research helped uncover the story of Neher's fate and reunite her son with the history that had been erased.
Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, director Anastasia Patlay left Russia and became the first artist to join the Artists at Risk residency at Brechthaus Augsburg. During the residency, she created a new version of Memoria, which premiered at the Augsburg Brechtfestival in 2023.
Presenting Memoria at Berliner Ensemble is deeply symbolic. It returns Carola Neher's story to the stage of the theatre founded by Bertolt Brecht, her friend and collaborator. By weaving together different historical periods, the play reveals disturbing echoes between the past and the present, reminding us that the work of preserving memory remains as urgent as ever.
Photo: (c) Dialogbüro Vienna
