Talgat Batalov’s autobiographical production Uzbek recounts the performer’s own experience immigrating to Moscow from Tashkent at the age of nineteen. A ‘stand-up comedy solo show’, Uzbek is a sarcastic deconstruction of Batalov’s own national identity as a Muscovite-Uzbek of Tatar descent. In the show, Batalov presents his audience members with his actual immigration papers, raising questions around the status of documents and the performance of national identity in contemporary culture. Created and performed by Talgat Batalov, Uzbek is a co-production of Teatr.doc and the Joseph Beuys Theatre.

In conjunction with the exhibition Peripheral Visions, GRAD is hosting a series of three documentary theatre performances on the themes of immigration and social inequality in Bulgaria, Russia, and the UK. Curated by Molly Flynn, the series includes works by the London-based Ukrainian theatre collective Molodyi teatr, Moscow-based performer/director Talgat Batalov, and Theatre Replika, Bulgaria’s leading documentary theatre company. This programme supports GRAD’s commitment to bring new insights into Eastern European art, design and culture through sharing specialist knowledge in ways that capture the imagination and inspire new ideas.