Connecting Russian Refugees Via Theatre—and a SpaceBridge

“It’s such a simple idea, really: a way of connecting people and changing their lives….in the theatre,” said theatremaker Irina Kruzhilina of her latest passion project. Its seeds were planted on Dec. 31, 1999, when Vladimir Putin first came to power and Kruzhilina knew she had to leave Russia. She subsequently found a new life in New York City, where she teaches acting and methods of devised theatre at the New School. At the same time, however, she remained deeply concerned about the dynamic between Russians and Americans that she was experiencing: a mutual distrust, a reluctance to connect, to converse, to express interest. Her concern was heightened after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, resulting not only in a flood of refugee families from Ukraine but also a stream of Russians seeking political asylum in the U.S. because of their antiwar views. Many were journalists, educators, and others targeted as being anti-government. “Seldom do we hear stories about those Russians who stand up for what they believe is right, and the brutal consequences they face when they do,” Kruzhilina explained in an interview last fall. She cited one story about a teenage girl in Russia named Masha, who drew an anti-war picture in her art class, and was consequently thrown into an orphanage while her father was sent to prison. Irina Kruzhilina. Frightened Russians fled in family units, embarking on a perilous route that took them through Russia, across the sea to Mexico, and finally to New York, where they were housed in New York City shelters sponsored by the Department of Homeless Services, waiting to apply for asylum. Most of the refugees were children traveling with their mothers (who had to borrow thousands to make the journey). Kruzhilina was particularly moved by the story of one anti-Putin journalist living in a shelter with her 12-year-old daughter who was being bullied in a New York public school. “We don’t know the stories of these Russian children,” Kruzhilina said. “It had reached the level of a humanitarian crisis. I was alarmed, and I knew I had to do something about it.”